Minute to Freedom #99: I Won’t Be Like Him

Today let’s talk about “I won’t be like him!”

I decided in my early ‘20s the one thing I wanted most in life was not to be like my Dad.

When I was a teenager, he was angry, smoked, drank, and could be very damaging just with his words, and I wanted to be nothing like that. Then in my ‘30s when I was angry, smoking, drinking and could be very damaging just with my words, I realized with a shock I had become just like my Father. I began to see how connected he and I were through the events of my teenage years, because most of the anger that made me smoke and drink was because of that time. It was one of the most humbling moments of my life, but also one of the most freeing, because I could begin to do something about it.

Have you ever wanted not to be like a parent?

Photo Credit

“Zaza smoking” by Bentza @ flickr.com Creative Commons – Some rights reserved.

Dan L. Hays offers encouragement for adult children of alcoholics.
The podcasts of these episodes can be found at: Minute to Freedom

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