| On our swing through Tennessee last weekend, | | | | had a different take on it: |
| we stopped to see my daughter -- my oldest | | | | Not everything that can be counted counts, and |
| child -- who had moved there from Atlanta last | | | | not everything that counts can be counted. |
| year. She took a new job in the whitewater | | | | (Young parents, take note: It's nearly impossible |
| rafting business. | | | | to undo what you've done in your children's early |
| She loves the outdoor recreation industry. Her old | | | | years. The only thing you can do later is be a |
| job was in the same business, but she worked in | | | | better example.) |
| an office building in Atlanta managing several | | | | So, as our first visit drew near, my daughter said, |
| outposts in north Georgia. She decided it didn't | | | | "I'm really nervous about showing you where I |
| make much sense to live in the city if she loved | | | | live. There's a junk yard next door." |
| being in the country. I'm proud of her for making | | | | See! There it is. That fear that dad will be |
| that rational decision that helped her move her life | | | | judgmental. It shows up less frequently now, but I |
| in a more peaceful direction. | | | | know that's it's always lurking in the background. |
| From an early age, I pushed my kids to do well, | | | | Yet, I couldn't be more proud of her. |
| to be the best, to see no limitations, to succeed in | | | | But when we arrived, she was standing on the |
| everything. It's the American way. We think | | | | front porch of a little batten board cabin at the |
| happiness is achieved, that it just can't possibly | | | | base of a range of Tennessee mountains. The |
| just be. That's the way I lived. It was the way I'd | | | | cabin was really nice, clean, well-decorated and -- |
| been taught, just as I was teaching what I knew | | | | next to a junkyard. |
| to my kids. | | | | So what? She's happy. |
| Unfortunately, what I set up was a world where | | | | How great is that? After all those years of |
| they could never achieve enough -- even after I | | | | judgment, my daughter has figured out a way to |
| realized the error of my ways years ago. | | | | be happy. I'm so proud of her. |
| Albert Einstein, one of my favorite spiritual gurus, | | | | |
