Latest / RealTalkwithMikeD / Episode 53 - Making Memories with my Daughter

Transcript

Episode 53 - Making Memories with my Daughter · RealTalkwithMikeD

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Real Talk with Mike D. Alright, welcome back
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: to Real Talk with Mike D. I am the one,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the only, and the original Mike D. And today I
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: want to talk about something a little bit different. I'm
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: not talking about money, I'm not talking about stress, I'm
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: not talking about work. Today I want to talk about
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: something that to me is worth more than any of
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: those things combined. And ladies and gentlemen, that would be
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: making memories with my daughter. Specifically, taking a trip to
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia with my daughter to see the Jonas Brothers. Some
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: of you might hear that and say, okay, you went
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: to a concert, what's the big deal? Well, the concert
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: is only part of the story. The real story is
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the time together, the conversations, the laughs, the excitement, the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: little moments that you don't realize are becoming memories until
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: you look back on them years later. And that is
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: what I want to talk about today because sometimes we
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: get so caught up in life that we forget what
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: really matters. We spend so much time trying to make money,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: trying to work, trying to pay the bills. We forget
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: to survive. We forget to just live life. But when
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: you're spending time with your child, ladies and gentlemen, that
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: is living. That's the stuff they will remember. That's the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: stuff you will remember. And that is priceless. So picture this.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Me and my daughter headed to Philadelphia. There's something special
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: about taking a trip with your child. Even if it's
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: not some extravagant vacation, even if you're not flying across
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the country, sometimes it's just getting in the car, cranking
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: up the music, laughing, talking, and knowing you're going somewhere together.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: And this time, we are headed to Philadelphia. We are
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: going to see the JoBros, the Jonas Brothers. And I'm
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: thinking about how excited she is. And honestly, her excitement
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: makes me excited. That's one of the things about being
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: a parent. You can experience something through your child's eyes.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Something that maybe you wouldn't experience the same way on
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: your own. You see their excitement. You see their smile.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: You hear them talking about what they're looking forward to.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: And suddenly, you are just as excited as they are.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: That is the beautiful part. Now, don't get me wrong.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Seeing the Jonas Brothers is going to be awesome. The music,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: the crowd, the lights, the energy, everybody singing along. But
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: most importantly, my daughter having a great time. That's going
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: to be one hell of a night. But here's the thing.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Years from now, I might not remember every song they played.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: I might not remember exactly what time the concert started.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: And I might not remember what songs were played first.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: But I guarantee you, I'm going to remember being there
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: with my daughter. That's the memory. That is what matters.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Because eventually, the concert ends. The lights come on. Everybody
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: walks out. You get back in the car. You head home.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: And life goes back to normal. But the memory, the
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: memory will stay forever. And here's something that I think
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: we all need to remember. We're living in a world
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: where everybody is constantly looking at a screen. We're taking pictures.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: We're recording videos. We're posting things. We're checking social media.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: And there's nothing wrong with capturing memories, but sometimes you
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: just need to put the phone down. Look at your child.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Look at what's happening right in front of you. Because
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: you can spend the entire night trying to capture the
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: perfect video and miss the actual moment. And I want
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: to experience this with my daughter. I want to see
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: her reaction. I want to hear her singing. I want
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: to laugh with her. I want to talk about the
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: concert afterwards. I want to be there, not just physically.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: I want to be present. That is a big difference.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: You know, when your kids are little, people tell you,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: enjoy it. They grow up fast. And when you're in
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: the middle of changing diapers, cleaning up messes, dealing with
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: school homework, arguments, and everything else, you might think they're exaggerating.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: But they're not. They grow up. They grow up faster
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: than you realize. One day you're holding their hand crossing
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: the street. Then you're watching them become their own person.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: And before you know it, they're making plans that don't
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: always include you. That's part of life. That's what we're
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: supposed to want as parents. We want our children to
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: grow up. We want them to become independent. We want
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: them to have their own lives. But that doesn't mean
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: it doesn't hit you emotionally because there are moments when
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: you realize, this is a moment I'm going to miss someday.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: And that's why I'm going to appreciate it now. Tiffany
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  Speaker 1: is in her mid-twenties. She has her own life. Has
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: her own friends. She is a young woman. She doesn't
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: always necessarily want to spend time with her dad. So
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  Speaker 1: when the opportunity arises that I get to spend quality
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: time with my daughter, I jump on it. And I
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  Speaker 1: want you to know Quality time. That's important. Having quality time.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Because you can spend time with your daughter, but then
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  Speaker 1: there's quality time. And quality time does not have to
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  Speaker 1: be complicated. It doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be a huge vacation. It can
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: be dinner, a movie, a drive. Maybe going shopping, grab
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: a coffee. And let me tell you something. My daughter
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: is expensive. She loves coffee. She loves shopping. And she
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: loves going to concerts. Maybe. Maybe just like sitting around talking.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Laughing about stupid things. Sometimes quality time is simply being
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: together without distractions. That's what I'm thinking about with this
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia trip. It's not just let's go see the Jonas Brothers.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: It's let's spend quality time together. Let's make that memory.
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  Speaker 1: Let's have an experience that belongs to the two of us.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: And that is something I do not take for granted. Now,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: there is something incredibly special about being a father. And
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: being a father isn't about being perfect because God knows
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: I'm not perfect. No parent is. We make mistakes. We
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: get frustrated. We have bad days. Sometimes we just don't
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: know what we're doing. And sometimes we wish we could
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: go back and handle things differently. But one thing I
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: hope my daughter always knows is her dad loves her.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't mean that in some generic way. I
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: mean I want her to know that she matters to me.
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  Speaker 1: Her happiness matters to me. Her dreams matter to me.
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  Speaker 1: Her future matters to me. And the time I get
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: to spend with her matters to me. That's why a
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: night in Philadelphia means more to me than just a
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: concert ticket. It's another chapter in our story. And here's
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: something else I've learned. The big moments are great. Birthdays, graduations, concerts, vacations, holidays.
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  Speaker 1: But sometimes it's the little moments that stick with you.
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  Speaker 1: The joke you both laughed about. The conversation in the car.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: The look on her face when her favorite song came on.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: the food you grab afterward, getting lost and laughing about it,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: talking about life on the way home. Those are the
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: things that become stories. And years later, you might say,
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: remember when we went to Philadelphia to see the Jonas Brothers?
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: And she'll say, yeah. And you both will laugh. That
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  Speaker 1: is what I'm talking about. I'm talking about memories. Now,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: let's get serious for just a few moments. Because we
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: all know there's always going to be responsibilities. We all
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: have to go to work. We all have to pay bills.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: There will always be something that needs to be done.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: There's always another problem waiting around the corner. But sometimes
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: you have to say, tonight, I'm going to enjoy life. Tonight,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: I'm going to spend time with my daughter. Tonight, the
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: bills can wait. The emails can wait. The stress can wait.
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  Speaker 1: The rest of the world. Because this moment won't come back.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: And that's something we sometimes forget. We think we're always
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: going to have tomorrow. But ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow is
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: never guaranteed. So when you have an opportunity to make
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: a memory with someone you love, make the memory. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I love that. Ladies and gentlemen, we all get older
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: every day. Life is not promised. Tomorrow is not promised.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: Having another day is not promised. While you're here, while
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: you're physically able, and when you're financially able, do those
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: special things with your children. It doesn't have to be expensive.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: doesn't have to be extravagant, but just spend that quality
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: time with your children. Because one day, you're not going
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: to have that opportunity. So while you're here, make the
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  Speaker 1: best of your life together. Ladies and gentlemen, that is
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  Speaker 1: going to do it for today. I greatly appreciate you
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: being here. I greatly appreciate you listening. And as always,
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  Speaker 1: please be the reason someone smiles. And I will see
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: you all on the next episode. Thank you.