I am often of the opinion that, as a father and husband, I am not enough. I am not doing enough, providing enough, achieving enough. I am not bringing enough enthusiasm or positivity to our household each day. I am not wise enough, and therefore I’m making poor decisions and saying the wrong things. The frustration and exhaustion come over me are more powerful than my strength to overcome.

All I can do to remedy this is apologize. Each day brings small successes and seemingly larger failures. It is the failures that linger. When they occur, I sit with regret, analyze what I have done wrong, vow to improve. Sometimes I succeed, other times, clearly, I do not. Here’s something you may not know. Just as children wish to please a father, a father wishes to please his children, to make them proud of the father that he is. I can only hope that the cumulative effect of my efforts over the course of my life, all the successes and failure, brings about the desired result.