Our role is to be a guide
Today is Father’s Day and to honor all Dads out there, I want to honor also all surrogate parents who take the role mentors, coaches and teachers.
Often enough, a martial arts teacher, sports coach or school mentor take – somewhat – the role of a surrogate parent. Although fatherhood is much more than just teaching something to someone, being a teacher or coach also takes a deeper role when the student or the athlete starts to see their teacher as a role model, asking for advice on life things.
Their roles come at a cost, the cost of caring and filling your heart with love and hope. We start feeling the need to push them to their limit, to see them grow into who we think they can become. But that is a heavy burden to carry for the teacher and even heavier burden to the student. Same for a father positing his hopes on his child.
As such, it’s important to remember that your child, pupil, athlete is their own person with their own ambitions, goals, hopes and dreams. Having this parenting role is about helping them find their way and not putting them on your path.
We are a guide, nothing more.
To that, I wish you all a Happy Father’s Day to all parents, surrogate or otherwise!
