I'm lucky to have a great relationship with my father.
It wasn't always thus, we had the familiar late teens rocky patch when we struggled with re-adjusting to 'he's not quite man, he's certainly not a boy anymore' thing.
What really frustrates me is how I didn't respect him as much as he deserved until I was going through some of the stuff he did.
Working for a living.
Thinking for two instead of one when you get married.
The terrifying responsibility of looking after the wellbeing of your children and the sacrifice and joy that brings.
Every decision suddenly loaded with implications, the way work can never be about ego or personal growth in the same way, it's about buying shoes and food.
You cannot know what you're Dad is going through until you experience it yourself.
I only know now how much he loved me, what he did (and does) for me now I feel the same way about my own children.
And you realise they were winging it, as uncertain and basically using The Force as much you.
It's the same in the office. There were some people in high places when I was younger that I'll never forgive. There are others I'll never be able to thank enough.
I understand them all better now. And respect them a lot more.
Because we're all winging it at work too. Anybody who claims to 100% know what they're doing is a charlatan, or at least self-deluded.
The salary gets bigger, the responsibilties and stakes grow perhaps, especially when the salary pays for shoes and school books, not just rent and beer, but the general Making Things Up as You Go Along persists.
Bugger.
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