Latest / RealTalkwithMikeD / Episode 18 - Speaking From the Heart!

Transcript

Episode 18 - Speaking From the Heart! · RealTalkwithMikeD

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Real Talk with Mike D. All right. Welcome
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: back to Real Talk with Mike D. I am Mike D.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. Thank you for being here. And
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: as always, I appreciate you listening. Today, I want to
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: talk about something that means more to me than just
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: about anything in this world. I want to talk about
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: my daughter, Tiffany. Sometimes you can have a million words
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: in your head, but when it comes to explaining how
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: much you love your child, somehow none of them seem
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: like enough. Because being a father isn't just about being
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: there for the big moments. It's about all the little moments.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: It's the conversations, the laughs, the arguments, the memories, the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: phone calls. The times you worry when you don't hear
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: from her. And those moments when you look at your
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: daughter and realize just how quickly the years have gone by.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: My daughter means the world to me. And if she's
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: listening to this right now, I want her to know something.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: I don't care how old you get. I don't care
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: where life takes you. I don't care how much time passes.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: You will always be my little girl. Always and forever.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: There's something about being a father that changes you. Before
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: you have children, you think you understand what love is.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: When your child comes along and suddenly you realize, man,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: I had no idea. Because loving your daughter means that
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: her happiness matters to you. Her struggles matter. Her dreams matter.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Her future matters. When she's hurting, you hurt. When she's happy,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: you're happy. When she accomplishes something, you feel proud. And
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: when she falls down, every part of you wants to
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: pick her up and tell her, it's going to be okay.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: That's what being a dad is. It's wanting to protect
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: your child from everything life can throw at them, while
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: knowing you can't always be there to protect them from
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: every disappointment. And that's one of the hardest parts. Because
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: as fathers, we love to be able to fix everything.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: If your daughter is having a bad day, we love
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: to make it disappear. If somebody breaks her heart, we
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: love to take that pain away. If she's struggling, we
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: love to carry the burden for her. But sometimes the
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: best thing we can do is simply be there. Listen,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: support her, and remind her you don't have to go
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: through this alone. When I think about my daughter... I
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: don't think just about one particular moment. I think about memories.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: The little things that maybe seemed ordinary at the time
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: but became priceless later. The conversations, the laughs, the crazy moments.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: The moments where we probably drove each other a little
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: bit crazy. And let's be honest, there were probably times
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: when she thought, Dad, God, you're annoying. And there were
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: probably times when I thought, My God, this girl is
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: going to drive me insane. But that's family. That's life.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: And those are the memories that stay with you. Years
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: from now, you might forget what somebody bought you. You
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: might forget what you were doing on a particular Tuesday afternoon.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: But you'll remember how somebody made you feel. And my
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: daughter has given me a lifetime of feelings and memories
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: that I will carry with me forever. One of the
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: strangest things about being a father is watching your little
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: girl grow up. You remember when she was younger. You
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: remember looking at her and thinking about the future. And then,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: before you know it, she's becoming her own person. She
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: has her own opinions, her own dreams, her own goals,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: her own life. And as a father, you have to
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: learn that your job changes. When she's little, she needs
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: you to hold her hand. As she gets older, she
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: needs you to let go of that hand. But still
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: be close enough to catch her if she falls. That's
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: not easy. Believe me, that's not easy. Because a father
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: never stops wanting to protect his daughter. But part of
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: loving your child is giving them the freedom to become
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: who they're meant to be. And that's what I want
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: for my daughter. I want her to be happy. I
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: want her to be strong. I want her to believe
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: in herself. I want her to know her worth. And
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: most importantly, I want her to know that she is loved.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: If my daughter is listening to this podcast right now,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: I want to say something directly to her. Baby girl,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: I hope you know how much your dad loves you.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: I hope you know that no matter what happens in life,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: you will always have a place in my heart. You
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: don't have to be perfect. You don't have to figure
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: everything out. You don't have to make everybody happy. Just
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: be yourself. Follow your dreams. Be kind. Be strong and
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: never let anybody convince you that you aren't good enough.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Because you are. And when life gets difficult, and it
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: will sometimes, remember that difficult moments don't define you. They
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: make you stronger. And if you ever feel like the
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: world is against you, remember that there's always going to
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: be somebody in your corner. Your dad. I'll always be
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: proud of you. Not because of what you accomplished. Not
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: because of what you have. but because you're my daughter.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: And that's enough. Tiffany, I love you with every ounce
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: of blood in my body. You are my pride and joy.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: You've made me the happiest father a man could ever
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: wish for. I hope you know that. And I hope
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: you know that I love you more than words can say.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: All right. With that being said, I wish you all
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: a great day. Thank you for listening. And I will
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: see you all on the next one.