Sometimes in life, we are dealt some pretty bad cards. No matter how much we try to make a pair, its seems we will have to give up and fold.

In my life, I’ve had my fair share of bad hands, but unlike the unlucky poker player, I’ve yet to fold and have unlimited form of currency to bet with in the forms of hope and positivity.

One of the hardest hands ever dealt to me was losing the little boy that called me Daddy.

I will always think of him as my son and if he ever in life decided to seek me out in the future, I would never deny him.

That brings us to the most important aspect of playing with a bad hand, making good use of the time we have because in the harsh world of reality, we just never know.

Time is a human invention that we live our life by. We go to work, sleep, eat and live all with restrictions pushed on us by that constantly ticking clock.

Nietzsche said that: “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Very true, in fact a life lesson that can change your life.

We all should relish our pain and losses because it is that very same pain that contains the lessons for personal growth.

On the same tack, we also must not waste any time that we do have, be it with family, a lover or indeed, a small child.

I will never regret raising that little boy for the first few years of his life. I know I made a positive impact on him and did my best to stand by him, even though I cannot still do so today.

As time constantly moves forward and we grow older, we start to realize that change, and indeed circumstance, can mold our lives like a potter shapes clay on his wheel. What shape this pot becomes is up to us.

Myself, like every other man that walked this Earth has been guilty of mistakes and regrets, violent outburst from when you let the bad hand get the best of you. When you allow this to influence the shape of the pot on the wheel, all bets are off.
Time and again God will tempt us and test us, making sure we really are all we claim to be. It is his right to do so and your right to face these tests with poise and dignity. He tests us in ways that are both as small as the crystals in a snowflake and as large as the largest of the oceans.

From the irritable young lady behind the counter of your local business who seems to delight in being the worst customer service representative that ever lived to the innumerable, but repairable, damage done by such life changing events as divorce, destruction of a well laid foundation and loss of life through death, we must be prepared to remain true to who we are.

Even the best men and women must be prepared also for another of Nietzsche’s greatest pearls of wisdom: “Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster.”

Throughout our lives we will experience all of these things, but it is in how we deal with them that makes us who we are.

Your ‘Daddy’ still loves you and will forever. I will never forget how smart you were, how big of a heart you had and how much I love you.

This column is dedicated to both Nathan Richards and Jessica Polidoro, two of the biggest influences against the monsters I have ever known.