As you know, we recently celebrated Fathers Day. For me it was an odd day in terms of feelings as I experienced mixed emotions. On one hand, I felt happy and grateful as I love being a father to our great adult children. I also experienced sadness as my own father(“Howie” as most people knew him as) passed away suddenly in 1991 and I have missed him every day since. He was an amazing loving father and had nothing but great qualities. I couldn’t have asked for a better upbringing from both my Mom and Dad.
As I expressed in my blog last week, I encourage you to enjoy and embrace and appreciate every single day. If you missed last weeks blog, you can access it here:http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/life-is-fleeting-enjoy-every-day/
In reflecting about being a father, I have loved every single moment of being a dad and a father to our children, Tim, Matt and Lauren. From the instant they were born and every moment of every single day we are thankful for our amazing children. We always look forward to every conversation, email, text, instagram, and of course spending time with them. I know if you are a parent reading this, you feel exactly the same way as I do.
Fathers Day Celebration
I arrived home from my triathlon race in Ottawa on Sunday night and it was so nice to celebrate Fathers day with Barb, her mom Marge and our daughter Lauren who just arrived home from her school in N.Y. city the previous night. We had a surprise visit for dinner from Tim and Pati who just drove in from Syracuse as Tim had run the Syracuse Half Ironman on that day. It was so nice to see and have Tim and Pati for dinner. Of course Matt called in from Calgary as he is out finishing off his last term(and year) of school at University of Calgary so could not be with us.
Although our children would likely say they have learned from Barb and I, I am a better person today because of our children. I thought today I would share the what I have learned from our children and the impact they have had on me personally.
1.Eating Healthy
Many of you have followed my health journey over the past few years so are aware of my focus on health and more specifically on eating healthy. All of our children have had an influence on me in this regard. I continually learn from all of them and often we discuss food and share reports on different food items almost daily. Tim was the first in our family to go 100% vegan and I immediately saw the benefits of this type of lifestyle. Lauren has not eaten meat since she was 7 years old and has also gone the vegan route the last number of years and it has had a tremendous impact on her overall health. Through Matts ski racing and Cross Fit and his attention to health, he has cut out dairy and eats very clean, grass fed, organic, whole foods. All of them have had a lasting impact on Barb and I and our healthy eating habits.
2.Being Physically Active
Although I have always been physically active, having our children grow up with that focus has kept me at a much higher level of physical activity. I have always loved doing physical activities with the kids over the years. Whether it has been going to the Y, cycling, mountain biking, weight lifting or going for runs together, I have always enjoyed out time together while working out. In order to enjoy this time with them, I have had to ensure that I am always in top physical form so that I can enjoy these activities together. I really noticed this last year when I had a torn Achilles and therefore could not go out for our weekend training runs or rides together. I really missed this time together.
3.Competing
One of the other things we have always enjoyed has been going to the kids games and competitons over the years. Whether it be Ski races, Soccer games, Football games, Track meets, or Cross country meets, Barb and I always made it a point to be at the kids races and events as much as we could. As the kids have become older, they have competed in other events such as road races, biking races and triathlon races. We often do these races together and there is always some good competitive rivalries amonsgt all of us. For instance once Tim was done playing football he started racing and competing at Triathlons and we have competed at many Triathlon races including the World Triathlon championships together on 2 occasions.
Even as I get older and slower, I still tell the kids that “I still haven’t reached my peak” yet! For example, there is a race in the summer that we always try to do together called Muskoka rocks. Although the race isn’t until this August, there are already trash emails flying around the family about the race and who is going to take the win this year!
They have taught me the importance of competing and keeping in top physical form. The kids treat my races as important as their own and are always my biggest fans(along with Barb of course!)
4. Feeling Young
Besides the benefits of feeling young from all the activities and fitness that I engage in, the kids keep me young in another very important way. I learn things from them daily about their jobs, new ideas and I must say fresh exciting ideas and points of view. I love talking to them and their friends as they are so enthusiastic about life and all the opportunities around them. I find this has a contagious spill over effect as it keeps me razor sharp and gets me fired put and excited about new and exciting opportunities. For instance as we continue to grow and build our business’s there is no such thing as “same old” and I am always looking for new and better products and services for our customers. I find that hanging out and communicating with our children and their friends keeps my life very exciting and I am always coming up with new fresh ideas for the future.
5. Follow Your Passion
(Matt on the Podium in Europe)
One of the things we have always encouraged our children to do was follow their passion. All of them have followed their own passion both personally and professionally.
This once again has had a spillover effect as it has taught me to follow my passion both in business and in Health. For example from a business perspective, we are constantly coming up with ideas on how to help our customers keep their health premiums to a minimum by focusing on the Health of their employees. I was one of the founders of Advica Health which is focused on helping people and companies find the very best pro active and reactive health solutions.
As you likely know, my passion is in the area of Health and helping people with their own health journey and hence the reason I started this blog. Personally I have ramped up my personal diet as well competing in Triathlons as once again this is what I love doing. I find that without even planning it, most of my volunteer experience has also been in the health field. My 3 major charities which I have been involved in all at the board and executive level have been The YMCA, Joseph Brant Hospital and more recently Royal Botanical Gardens. All of these are focused on health and wellness which I find interesting that I volunteered my time and energy on Health focused organizations.
(Tim finishing off the Muskoka Ironman)
6. Courage
One thing my children have taught me is courage. I find that they dive into things and are not afraid to try new and exciting things. To give a few athletic examples, Tim had the courage to play football at a very high level and then switch right away to compete at Triathlons. More recently he has decided to step up to the half and full marathon distances. Matt had the courage to leave home at a very young age to follow his passion as he went down to the U.S. when he was 15 to go to a Ski Academy. He then went on to compete on the World stage at SkiCross representing Canada. Most recently he had the courage to switch sports and is now competing at Cross Fit with the goal of making he World Cross Fit games. Lauren has also followed her passion and had the courage to go to Parson School Of Design in N.Y. city where she did not know one person prior to attending. One of Laurens passions has always been running and although has competed in a number of races, this spring she entered and ran the North Face Challenge Marathon which was one of the the most difficult hilliest trail running full Marathon races outside of NY City. It was a grulling event and it was a very cold soaking wet day however she not only had the courage to enter but he courage to stay with it and finish in those conditions.
(Lauren running her first Triathlon and her latest Marathon)
7. Pull the Trigger
They have all taught me courage through them embracing this quality themselves. I thought I would share a short story on the influence my children have had on me.
I was writing my blog for about a year before I decided to get it out and publish it. Every week I would share with the kids my latest Health blog however they were all in draft form as I never sent them out. Finally one day when I was talking about it, Lauren referred to my health blog as my “Diary”. I asked her why and she let me know it was basically a diary as I was the only one that ever saw it. She was the one that finally convinced me to pull the trigger and get the blog out. I was afraid of what people would say and Lauren convicned me to have the courage to pull the trigger.
To summarize, I have learned and continue to learn and get motivated by my children daily. I know they celebrated Fathers day by getting me some great gifts so show thier appreciation. However the true gift for Barb and I is just having them as our children and enjoying all the time and years we have spent together.
Give your kids a big healthy hug today, Kev
2 comments
Wonderful, Kevin. You and Barb have learned your lessons well. ??
Hi Kevin,
Simply marvellous. I’m sure you are an inspiration to many people. I am so proud of you as my son in law and the things you do. Not only for our family but for the community in general.
Love,
Marge