Deciding to have a child was probably the most difficult decision of my life. The regular insecurities were resolved when I saw the sheer joy my colleagues' kids brought them, and how it had fundamentally impacted them as men. But I found it excruciatingly difficult to reconcile to the fact that my child might get my mental health illness. Given the strong genetic traits of bipolar disorder, how could I possibly take the risk of passing this on? Would we regret this in the future?
After weeks of grappling with this, I finally shared my fears with my wife who, not surprisingly, approached it with her deep wisdom. Over the next few days, she got me to see that my life was not defined by my mental illness, we had the tools to deal with it, and we were now aware of what it looks like. So if God forbid our child does get it, we are resourced to deal with it from an early age. When we stood back and looked at the bigger picture, our reasons for bringing a baby into the world outweighed everything else. We wanted to raise a good human being - the world could use a compassionate, centered and fun loving human being!
19 months in, my beautiful baby girl gives me new reasons every day to reinforce that our decision was right. In a world that's increasingly chaotic and complex, she's our centering force.
Being a (very) hands on dad and an entrepreneur are huge responsibilities and sometimes it's very tricky to get the balance right. But I've realized that the two roles complement each other beautifully.
What's common between being a dad and creating an ambitious, mission driven business?
The resilience to wake up every single day and know that today is going to be completely different from the day before. And sometimes, it's better.
Being an eternal optimist is not a choice, it's a necessity to shine at the highest level.
The ability to dance between the big picture and tiniest of details. Life plans vs matching socks; Changing the world vs feedback forms. It all comes with the territory.
The ability to laugh at myself. The only way to make sure I'm grounded and focused on the big picture, in whichever role I play.
A community (or village?). It enables me, my child and my venture to thrive.
It's not often that I've said that I've led a truly integrated life. Now that can change!
All BecauseYOU programs are created to help you integrate different parts of your life. Book a call here and find out more about our upcoming program in January 2021.