My kids are now learning to play both parents. Nothing out of the ordinary here but the way they are doing it is pretty smart even if I do say so myself. It’s like the survival skills I picked up in my journey, especially the rough patches, got passed down. In a way, encouraging and in another, scary.

I often wrestle with how much I expose them to as a father. There is a balance between preserving their childhoods and preparing them for the world.

Songs of innocence.

Songs of experience.

It occurred to me they can go either way as people.

They can be dangerous.

Deadly.

And that’s ok.

That’s how things get done. The question is what type?

The commitment here is to still serve the light, to allow it in. I teach them that to accomplish something truly great and genuine, they cannot do it in their own power.

The real battle here is not even for what they can and will accomplish.

It is for their souls, in more ways than one. If that’s taken care of, all else follows.

I wish I had taken that to heart earlier and more seriously. I think I did that but wish I could have done better.

Both are supremely difficult but I tell them it’s ok because difficult people tend to change the world or at least realign it.

And this, in part, requires walking some type of ethical and moral tightrope at times. Saw it in my work and other arenas. Answer is rarely clear cut and you just do your best.

But the ability to strike and do something is supremely critical. Wise as serpents, innocent as doves and all that follows.

It’s also about positioning, opportunity, and skill. One of the phrases they memorize is the Chinese saying – Better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. To be equipped even if the skills are dormant or not utilized at the time.

That quote, revived by the Master Bruce Lee, also encapsulates why he was such a threat to the establishment as he challenged the prevailing narratives on Asians and martial arts.