Life can be cruel or cool. Mostly it depends on your own attitude. Take my friend Jo for example: while travelling the city commute to work, she noticed a young man had placed his left foot on top of hers. Although he didn't realise it yet, he was hurting her quite severely. Jo gently tapped the young man on his shoulder, looked up at him and asked 'Do you mind getting off my foot?'. As you can imagine with the stress of travelling to work combined with the crowded bus she was in, Jo could easily have snapped, lost control and created a massive issue of this. Instead, her actions were very restrained and in turn gained the trust and respect of those around her, including me. By the way, I am the young man who stood on her foot. Sorry Jo.
Because of her attitude, Jo's life is fairly cool.

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
He sat there watching his children play on the trampoline.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
It seemed boring and repetitious, yet they played on for hours.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
He tried to remember what it was like to be a kid on a trampoline.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
Watching the children brought back memories of his own childhood.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
He soon began to laugh with the children as his memories returned.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
He had soon forgotten his age and joined the children in their fun.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
'Wow! This is awesome!' he said, bouncing higher and higher.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
The sun went down and the children were soon all in bed.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
The man kept bouncing, unable to control his laughter.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
Some of the neighbours came out to see what all the noise was.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
Soon they were all joining in his laughter and play.
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce....
'It's great to be a kid again.' they all thought.

What does it mean to be a father? Someone once gave me a fridge magnet that said: 'Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad'. This has got me thinking, what does it take to be a father, and is being a dad really that different?
The comment 'Anyone can be a father', likely is referring to the fact that as a man (or even before that), it doesnt take much to conceive a child within the womb of a lover; just a moment of weakness or complete ignorance of the concequences of his actions. Can this one act make him a dad? I don't think so. Perhaps the father then stays around to look after his rapidly growing unborn child and its mother, he gets a steady job to provide enough money for the food and clothing and maybe even a roof over their heads. He goes to work early in the morning and doesnt come home til long after he has finished work and drank his quota down at the local. Is he a dad now? I say he would perhaps be of more benefit to the mother if he just left, took his problems with him and sent money to the child every week.
What is the 'something special' that makes someone a Dad? Is the title Dad just a term of endearment, a name called only to someone loved? In short I beleive it is.
To be a Dad requires much more than simply being a father. So it is true, anyone can be a father but it takes someone who is lovable to be a Dad.

Ok, so this being my first blog attempt and my being clearly untrained in the art of the wordsmith, I will attempt to amuse and dazzle myself with the depth of my inability.

I am still uncertain of a few things in life and wonder why good things dont just fall in my lap. Maybe this is just because I havent been paying enough attention to the small (and sometimes quite large) details of my life. I sometimes find myself so overly concerned with what I dont have that I can't see the many great things i do have. I suppose there are others also who feel this way? Maybe.

I would really love to be earning a good living just by staying home helping my kids grow, but it is slowly becoming clear that my wishes will not come true. I continue to leave the house for hours and hours just to bring home enough to pay the bills and put food on the table. I am missing out on my kid's lives and I really hate this system we are forced to conform to.

I say this but there are clear and lasting benefits to the process such as the fact i am teaching my kids that you need to work for what you want and then really appreciate what you have.

So what do I have? I clearly have a good job that keeps the money flowing in, I also have two fantastic kids, both of whom I could not imagine my life without, I also have a beautiful wife who loves me despite my faults, and I have a great home despite the never ending reno's.

Maybe if I keep a photo of a tropical island on my visor, a place I can escape to in my mind when life gets me down and try to remain focussed on what I have rather than what the advertising media is trying to convince me I need, maybe then I can truly be content.