Gaining Peace through good options. [Notes for Dads…], 98 Kitiki #627

Gratitude, Remorse, Faith

Jul 18, 2026

Hello Dads,

It’s the middle of summer, time for relaxation and fun, but as dads we can become too disconnected on the valuing time to find teachable opportunities.

Last week I talked about reunions, sharing the thought of making sure no one ties your children’s hands. I talked about bullies and teaching your children how to kick their ass or just walk away. As dads we want them to know how to level the playing field, and that truth will survive. Give them the courage to always know that “there are good options.” Find the option. Pick it. And keep America strong. Often discretion is the better part of valor.

Today I want to talk about gratitude, remorse and faith.

Gratitude: We can never be too grateful. The reality of this statement is haunting. Especially if you are in the middle of things working against you. At that time, you often forget the things we used to value that have become less relevant over time because somehow, we forgot. Older, we enter the woods where the trees shade and less sunlight can be seen. Aging provides us an opportunity to appreciate health. Aging provides us an opportunity to appreciate those around us. Aging gives us a light we always had but now see it with eyes full of hope and peace where the truths can be shared. Every day is a gift and waking up can be an effort if we can’t find something to be grateful. Leaving voices that ring of happiness, joy and kindness are footprints to be proud and grateful to have done.^[1] It can be depressing unless we let go of the things we cannot change, accept those we can, and are courageous enough to do that. Be grateful.

Remorse: When we think of remorse, we often are sad. The things we didn’t do with our dads. The things we didn’t say to our children. The way we allowed our jobs, our desire to protect, even the jealously we allowed to spawn as our egos became disgustingly vile as we turned our backs on chances to help others. We chose to not be honest with our feelings. We held on to petty things as if our lives would crash like a stock we couldn’t sell. Remorse is okay. It lets us know we are human. It lets us know we are redeemable. Remorse is empowering as it can allow us to reach back to gratitude and be grateful, we found a way to be better. We found a way to not only fill shoes we thought we never could but made manageable for our children to do the same.

Faith: This is important, yet different for everyone. It’s something that can keep our spirits alive. It’s something that can bridge the pain and hurt we thought we never be able to get over. Recently I shared in a “Notes to Dad” about getting over a ruptured relationship with our younger son. It happened through love. It happened through hope. It resulted from the faith I had in both the way I had loved and how I knew my son loved me.^[2] As Maya Angelou tells us, “Do the best you can until you know better; when you know better, do better.” Residing in that memory is the faith things will resolve so we can move through the remorse and be grateful we hung in there.

Being a dad isn’t easy. I encourage dads to remind themselves God chose them to be the father of their children because there are so many things we can learn from our children. Nothing so deep can be fully understood unless you’ve been there. Understand God demonstrated that love for all of us by sharing His son. Of all these mentioned today, Faith is the most illuminating and limitless offering of assurance that I am loved and have the capacity to love no matter the situation. It gives me peace that I will choose good options about how to love and be loved. Keep that in mind dads as long as you’re alive.