“Do You Know What You Are Doing?”

I remember the moment almost like I was watching it from another person’s point of view. My parent’s restaurant. My Dad  sat down to chat with me while I ate a meal for free. I was a working college student, year 1999 or so, and was probably getting ready to either head to class or head to work, one or the other. I don’t remember the exact conversation, but it went something like this…

“Son, do you know what you are doing? I don’t think there’s a lot of money to be made in television. Are you SURE that it’s what you want to do?”

I don’t remember my exact reaction to it, and I don’t remember my reply, but 20 years later I feel pretty secure in saying, “Yes Dad, it IS what I want to do and I am positive that it’s the right career choice for me.”

Of course, this is 20 years later. If it was a bad decision then, I guess I’m rollin’ with it. Anyway, my point to this whole setup is that 20 years later, I’m a father of 2 and I think it’s safe to say, I didn’t really know what I was doing then, and I don’t really know what I’m doing now…but I’m doing it. Just like my Dad, and his Dad before him, we go through, day by day, and just do what we do. We work hard, we try to be a good parent, we make decisions that might be good, might be bad, but they have to be made and somebody’s gotta make the call…so we do it. It’s what we do.

I’ve made a lot of dumb decisions in my life. Luckily, nothing so serious that it has ruined me. I think I’m a good parent, which is half the battle. My Dad obviously taught me well and has encouraged me to be who I am, even if he didn’t understand or like it. And for that I am grateful. He taught me to be humble, to enjoy the little things in life and to have the foresight to look ahead and try to prepare for the future. He knew when to let me make my own decisions. He let me succeed and fail on my own merit and I’ve learned from all of those experiences. And he has always been there to be the first to gve me a hug and tell me he loves me. My Dad is really cool…and I hope that I am following his lead and that someday, my kids will look at me and tell me how cool I am.

So Happy Father’s Day Dad! I love you ! Enjoy your day and know that in my eyes, you definately know what you are doing (even if secretly you don’t…)!   🙂