My entire life I have been looking forward to this season, marrying your mother and starting a family. I was the weird kid growing up. While all my friends had dreams of becoming astronauts, professional baseball players, and doctors I was dreaming about being a great dad. Having you has been my biggest, most important purpose in life. My hope is that I can give you every opportunity possible to feel loved and to love others even more, to see the best in people and to have the best heart.
My heart, medically speaking, is not the best heart. I have struggled with having my own heart condition which has threaten the length of my life a few times. It has caused me to feel imperfect and limited. Selflessly and selfishly, I guess my biggest struggle with it is the chance that I could give the same heart condition to you. I have been on the edge of death three separate times, and as a parent I would never want to put you in that situation.
You see, my heart was given to me by my mother, and hers passed down by her mother. Without them outright saying it, I know they have felt the same fear and guilt. We love each other too dang much, it’s a family thing.
My heart has caused me a lot of pain, but as hard as it is to believe, I’ve started to view it as a gift and not a curse.
Inspirational Life Lessons
My heart taught me to be eternally vulnerable. Vulnerability sometimes seems to be frowned upon and is always extremely hard to do, but I now think it is necessary to be the strongest version of yourself. Everybody has a story and adversity to overcome. I’ve learned that we should simply stand up and share our story, letting others know what we’ve been through and demonstrate that we are choosing to continue forward with contagious enthusiasm and energy. I’ve learned that we can’t be afraid to show our emotions, and by sharing our story others can relate, rally, and support. Being vulnerable is the first step to inspiring others.
My heart taught me to seek failure. I realized that doubt and fear were a prerequisite for success. We feel doubt when the decision is huge, when our biggest aspirations are tugging on our hearts. But instead of living in fear, we can be rooted in faith. A meaningful life is accomplished by pursuing your goals and dreams, especially when your motives are selfless. Even if there is failure associated, taking a risk is a success and a celebration of your faith.
My heart taught me to be unapologetically grateful. Honest and simple gratitude can change the world. It’s a personal display of affection for the things that have been given to you, not earned. I have learned that simply being alive is the biggest blessing and I’m tremendously grateful for that. Everything else that happens in just a bonus. My heart has taught me to look for the bonuses.
My heart taught me that we must pursue happiness. With each day we have a choice to be happy, but I’ve learned that this choice is actually a pursuit… and it’s a lot easier than I thought. We can be happy by constantly loving people with no agenda. We tend to look for happiness in the wrong places, getting caught up in becoming rather than just being. Express your love each and everyday by just pursuing people and being with them. Also, remember that you are already loved. You don’t have to earn it.
My heart taught me to live on purpose. We can’t control the time we are given, but we can control what we do with our time. Be purposeful with your love, and use your God given gifts to communicate your love with other people. Everybody has a specific purpose and there isn’t any bigger than another. Life isn’t a competition, it’s a poem. Everybody has a verse to share, and when everybody let’s their authenticity shine the world turns into a masterpiece.
My heart taught me that I am enough and my uniqueness is needed in this world. If you think about it everybody is perfectly imperfect. We were all created in God’s image with unique values, beliefs, characteristics, traits, goals, and desires. The great thing about this is that our imperfection makes us the perfect choice for our purpose in life. This allows us to receive and give grace to everybody. Pairing imperfection with unfailing love is what makes this life amazing.
My Hope For My Child
My hope is that you have the best heart. I have struggled with possibly passing down my hereditary heart condition to you because I have unwillingly befriended the risk associated. But the last thing my heart taught me is that even though it isn’t the best it’s still exceptionally powerful. My heart, although imperfect still has value, passion, purpose, and the ability to love unflinchingly. With all my doubt, fear, and imperfection I have learned I can still make an extraordinary impact on the world and you can do the exact same.