The Permission to Jump

Lessons from my father.

My father was a very generous man. You had to fight him for the bill at a restaurant. He would laugh at all your jokes. He would stay up late to help you think through a problem.

Twice, I saw him part with thousands of dollars to bridge the gap between feuding friends entangled in a business dispute. He was a peacemaker and willing to sacrifice for it.

But when it came to his own children, he never once gave us money to kickstart or propel our entrepreneurial ventures. “You’re good enough to make it on your own”, he would say.

But he gave me something much more valuable than money because – while I’m not sure he ever said it to me in as many words – he somehow conveyed this message: “Go ahead and jump. If you fall, I’ll catch you.”

Dad gave me the permission to jump. And instilled in me the confidence that, no matter what, I’d be OK.

Many years later, I read a little-known line of Freud and perfectly understood: “How bold we become when we know we are well loved.”

Hope to do the same for my kids one day.