THE GIFT (from My Father!)

I had collected my Advanced Level exam results, scoring 12 points out of the possible 15 - Maths (A), Physics (B) and Chemistry (C)

I was excited but for the greater part,
I felt a sense of relief - I had "escaped."

My father calmly looked at me and said;
"You could have done better."

I was shocked and it hurt me quite deeply.
Almost 20years later, I can still feel the pain:

"What did it really take to satisfy this perfectionist of a man I had the greatest "misfortune" to call my father?" the stubborn teenager in me wondered.

Yet with those 5 words,
He gave me the greatest Gift and changed my life forever.

I was happy because I had "escaped" failure.
But life is not about "escaping".

You can not live your life in "escape mode" and expect greatness!

I was happy because I had done "better than most".
Again, others are never the best yardstick of your potential.

You can not run your race while staring at other people's lane.

The "perfectionist" of a man I had the greatest "fortune" to call "my father" knew something extremely valuable.

I learnt that one of the biggest tragedy in life is not knowing your potential.
- what you can do, how far you can go, how high you can fly and how deep you can dig.

Life is a pursuit of potential and a realisation of dreams.
Without knowing your potential, we limit and waste its meaning.

You give away the immense power of saying "NO".
- NO, I deserve better than this!
- NO, I can do better than this!

You take whatever is in front of you;
And risk not only accepting, but celebrating mediocrity.

You rob yourself of excellence;
 And others of inspiration.

You sabotage GREATNESS,
As poured within you by your maker.

"The perfectionist of a man I had the greatest fortune to call my father"....was actually right!

Truly speaking,
I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER.

He gave me THE GIFT of Truth,
And the courage to face it.

He gave me THE GIFT of "Self Belief",
He believed I could do more.
And each day, I choose to believe him.

He opened my eyes to see,
What he saw when he looked at his son.

I was happy to be good enough,
But good enough is not good at all.

Before you stop, ask yourself;
"Can I do more and better than this?"

I made myself this promise:

"LET NO MAN/WOMAN EVER TELL ME THAT I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER OR MORE AND BE RIGHT!"

Hope you can promise yourself this as well.
And receive a Gift from my father.

Thank you dad.
MHSRIP.