Very much low hanging fruit for me. My children bring an unreal amount of happiness to me, through such simple moments. Today my son had his first grading at Jiu Jitsu and got 2 stripes on his belt. As I sat there with some of my coach’s and friends, we watched 30+, 4-7 year old kids wait patiently to see if they would receive a stripe, a couple of stripes, a belt or maybe nothing at all. The gym was packed with parents all waiting in anticipation to catch a glimpse of their child possibly receiving a promotion. As I sat and observed each child go up one by one with a great sense of pride and achievement on their face, it brought a huge amount of joy and happiness to me, but it was the moment for each parent as their child was called up, as they quickly rushed to the side of the mat, phone at the ready to capture the moment as our head coach put a new stripe or belt on their hips, that sense of happiness that each parent had was really special. It was a wonderful morning for the kids, their parent's myself, my family and everyone in the gym.

I admire my parents and from a young age have always new that having children and a family was an important part of my journey. Obviously as an animal our instincts are to reproduce, reproduce in order to maintain the species. I ponder on this a lot actually, not so much the instinctual drive for reproduction but the evolution as a human. As time ticks by and we as humans come and go, our blood, DNA and a piece of our soul pass through to our offspring. Being a parent is such a wonderful and fulfilling role, however it can be very challenging and your output dictates a portion of who your children become. So many times I’ll make a call or teach a skill or whatever it may be, take a step back and reevaluate if I’ve done it right, because I want to try and portray the best version of me to help them become the best versions of themselves. Not always the case but consciously working towards that is the objective.

As I watch and observe my own children and other children for all walks of life I see wins and losses, trials and tribulations and an assortment of lessons. There is something so deep within our core that ticks when a child succeeds in any endeavour that can bring such a wholesome feeling of happiness and if you played any part, big or small in helping them achieve that, then it can fill yourself for a very long time.

This morning as the kids were waiting for their call up I saw Kingston waiting ever so patiently. His name was called and his eyes lit up, he walked proudly towards the front of the mat to our head coach Bruno, bowed and Bruno put 2 stripes on his belt. I don’t know if he was or I was happier! After he got his stripes, everyone clapped, cheered and he proceeded to give all the coaches a high 5 along the way, he got to me and this wave of emotion overwhelmed me. I know I speak of maintaining a somewhat neutral grounding with emotions but sometimes you have just let it run wild and embrace the moment. He gave me a slap and a fist bump and headed back to his place, as he patently waited until everyone else had gone up. After the grading finished, everyone came together and we had group photo, a very happy energy pursued.

Once everyone dispersed out family gathered together, we all embraced and congratulated Kingston on his achievement and his first reaction was to for him profusely tell us how much he loved us. The work, consistent dedication and subsequent achievement was so wonderful to see but for him to tell us how much he loves us and for us think consider we played a very small part in that achievement was priceless. A meaningful life, one where you get the opportunity to help, opportunity to witness, opportunity to share in others successes, that it really part of the magic and a great contributing factor in my search for happiness.

Kingston and Carter, you guys mean the world to me and you’ll never know how much I truly love you! Congratulations Kingston, your amazing!

Thanks,

Dean