Thread by @PaulOkungbowa

UPGRADING FATHERING | A Father’s Day Special published by @BecomeXcellence #FathersDay

Introduction
A Father is one who is responsible for another’s future.
So your line manager is your father in your career.
Your fitness trainer is your father in fitness etc.
Are you the best father you can be or could you use some help?
#FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

On this Father’s day, let us explore what a father really is and see if our fathering needs upgrading. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

Father is Farmer-Archer-Teacher-Helper-Encourager-Restorer. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

F is for Farmer
A Father is first of all a farmer. A farmer is one with a futuristic approach to life and living.
He doesn’t allow us to eat everything today for he knows that if we do not grow a portion of what we have today, we will groan under hunger pangs tomorrow.

He plants the seeds and grows them into more seeds for more harvests and thus sustains the family/clan/organisation.
He also builds his barns and silos to prepare for the harvest and executes the laborious process of bringing in the harvest.
#FathersDay

If you are not growing the seeds around you or can’t handle the greatness of your protégés, maybe your fathering needs upgrading.
#FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

A is for Archer
A skillful archer knows which arrow to aim at which target. He also knows how much he must bend the bow and for how long to hold on to the arrow and most importantly when to release the arrow.
A father should point you in the right direction. #FathersDay

The manual instructs that children be trained or set in the direction that they should go. Fathers understand the act of talent discovery, maximisation and exhibition. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

They know when you are not ready, so like the arrow in the bent bow, they hold us back though we may be crying for release due to the tension that we feel from being stressed and stretched.
#FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

If the aim is perfect and the timing excellent but the arrow is not released from the bow, the target would not be hit. Fathers know when to release you and let you be on your way. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

They understand that holding on to anything for longer than is necessary will result in severe deformation or death of the thing. Fathers love us enough to know when to let us go.
#FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

If you are not positioning your people accurately and giving them the necessary training to ensure that they go as far as they should go and if you are not pushing them forward, maybe your fathering needs upgrading. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

T is for Teacher
A Teacher is one who uses their wealth of knowledge about a subject and practical examples to impact knowledge to the students. Great teachers model the examples accurately so that when we encounter the problems, we have been adequately prepared for them.

They also know what part of the curriculum is relevant for now and the best methods for impacting the information.
A father is one who tells us how it is because he has been there and done that. He isn’t acting out a script so he is never out of character.

He leads by example because he has internalised the lesson taught by Einstein that an ‘example isn’t another way to teach, it is the only way to teach’.
He also gives the lessons proactively and not reactively. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

He teaches us the lessons before we face the problems and doesn’t give us the lecture after something has already gone wrong.
#FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

If you are hoarding information, do not have a clear strategy for developing your children, your example is inconsistent and your lectures are reactionary, maybe your fathering needs upgrading. #FathersDay

H is for Helper
A helper is not one who takes over our job or only gives instructions on how to do it, but one who makes the burden lighter by carrying their fair share. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

They do the bit that we cannot do and know when to take over because we are too weak and when to prop us else we fail and fall.
A Father helps us in ways that we cannot even imagine. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

Sometimes, just knowing that there is one out there to help when we need it is enough to keep us going. Fathers are there when we call for help regardless of what they are doing, where they are or what time it is.

If we cannot count on you to help with the loads that we bear and the tasks that we have to execute, maybe, just maybe, your fathering needs upgrading. #FathersDay

E is for Encourager
To encourage is to put heart in another for that is what the word resolves to in the original French.
An encourager is not only one who holds our hand when no one is there and when we feel down,

but an encourager is one who tells us that we can do it and causes us to believe in ourselves. They give us the mental fortitude to bear our burdens, face our fears and fight our battles.
A Father interprets our moods and knows “when we need some heart put into us”.

A Father doesn’t only scold us when we fail but after pointing out the errors, shows us how to make amends and sets us on the right path. A father gives us the courage to keep on keeping on in spite of the opposition and the resistance that we face. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

Fathers have a unique way of making us believe that we can take on the world and they spur us to action and we attain heights we never even knew existed.

If you are not giving heart, increasing self-belief and if we do not leave you feeling emboldened, maybe your fathering needs upgrading. #FathersDay

R is for Restorer
To restore is to bring back to a former state or the state before the current unfavourable state.
A restorer has the heart to receive one who has gone wrong and comes home to him. #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

He has the grace to wash them again and make them clean and put them on the right path again.
Fathers know that we are just children and our childishness leads us astray sometimes. With this attitude they expectantly wait for us when we stray and welcome us when we come back home

They have an elaborate plan to bring us back to the restored state.
If you cannot fix your children when they go wrong and restore them, maybe your fathering needs upgrading.
#FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

Conclusion
Now you are asking yourself, how can I upgrade my fathering?
Some of us don’t need upgrading; we need to learn the basics.
There are a number of good books and examples to learn from but let me recommend one who is a father to the fatherless.

The best father there ever was, ever is and ever will be. He walked the earth as Jesus Christ and this world has never recovered from that Celestial-Terrestrial intermingling.
#FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

Lord, give us fathers. Fathers who are upgraded, so we can grow from seeds to harvest, be accurately positioned and shot towards the right targets, equipped with the knowledge and examples required to face our challenges, assisted and encourage when the fight gets to us…

…and most importantly put back on track when we veer off.
Lord, give us fathers, Fathers like you! Happy #FathersDay @BecomeXcellence

becomexcellence.net/2013/06/upgrad…

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