My father was just about my age now when I first really started to get to know him as an aspiring five year old boy. Slowly but surely, I am starting to notice a number of familiar personality traits, psychological idiosyncrasies, bad habits (like clearing my throat, cussing and complaining) and behavioral tendencies which I more than likely acquired from him, either through inheritance, imitation or just plain learning. Now it is my turn to stand in his shoes and deal with these on my own terms. The way I look at it, there are a number of options to take, namely on or more of the following:
- Just ignore them and hope they go away as I grow older.
- Accept them as a they are (natural limitations) and continue my life the best I can.
- Use them to my advantage as if they were unique skills which can give me an advantage.
- Consider these obstacles as creative opportunities to overcome and thereby develop my inner self.
- Give up completely and just plainly accept them as is (a form of surrender you might say).
I find that the older I get, the more I am turning into my mother...even my children see it in me sometimes in the things I say or by my mannerisms. Not always a good thing...
You know, I think it is a natural part of the human mind to have have to compare acquaintances with other familiar people in order to acquire a better grasp of the situation. Actually, I really hate it when my family compares me to my father. I don't know why, but that is just my reaction. Things like, "that's just what your father would say," or "that's exactly how he acted." Probably because the things they compare me to are usually negative traits, whereas I prefer to remember my father for the (few) more positive aspects of his person.