One Dad’s Fun, Annual Tradition for Honoring and Deepening His Relationship with His Adult Daughter

A few years ago, I received a call from a friend of mine who was ecstatic after a breakthrough weekend that he’d just had with his daughter.

That previous Friday afternoon, he’d driven to his daughter’s college campus for the annual Parent’s Weekend.

Between her school work, her boyfriend and her packed social schedule, his daughter’s calendar always seemed to be wonderfully full – and this being her senior year, she seemed to be even busier than usual!

The dad was very excited at the opportunity to spend some quality time with her, just the two of them.

The dad told me that the weekend was nothing short of magical.

She took him on a tour of the campus, he met many of her close friends, they enjoyed meals and walks together, and participated in a few fun bonding activities that were part of the Parent’s Weekend.

Several times throughout the weekend, the dad felt a deep knowing that he’d look fondly on this weekend for the rest of his life.

As they ate a late lunch together on Sunday, just before he was to leave campus, the dad noticed the polarity of two feelings within him…

He felt gratitude for the time they’d had together, but also sadness that the weekend was over.

He said to his daughter:

“I’ve loved having this time with you! It means so much to me that you invited me here this weekend, especially since this is your last year here. We’ll never have another opportunity to enjoy a weekend like this.”

Then, he noticed that the more he thought about how much he’d miss having this alone time with his daughter, the worse he felt.

The dad realized that the more he gave energy to those feelings of loss and sadness, they deeper and deeper they became.

Being familiar with transformational principles, the dad quickly realized that, by giving his energy to what he didn’t want, he was expanding the very presence of what he didn’t want in his life.

And so, after a few moments of reflection, he decided to stop focusing on what he felt was lacking or missing in his life, and focus instead on what he would love to create – more opportunities just like this one to connect with his daugher!

Looking into his daughter’s eyes, he then said:

“Wait, why does this have to be our last father-daughter bonding weekend? Why don’t we make a decision for our whole lives that, one weekend a year, we’ll have a dad and daughter weekend, just the two of us?”

His daughter absolutely loved the idea, and so, the two of them decided on making this a new tradition for the rest of their lives.

Perhaps they could even have fun t-shirts made for each of their father-daughter weekends each year!

On the phone with me, he said:

“We made a decision that, even when she’s married, even when she has kids, even when I’m a grandfather, that we will set aside the time to spend one weekend a year together to honor our relationship. I feel like I just won a Parent’s Weekend for life!”

The first step to transforming any dream from imagination into reality is to realize that what you choose to focus on expands.

It’s easy to focus on what we don’t like about our life. But when you do this, what you’re communicating to yourself is that your current circumstances or conditions are more powerful than you are – and this is never the case!

So, whether you want more time to connect with your loved ones, or to meet your soulmate, find a more fulfilling and inspiring career, or any other dream you may have for your life…

When you notice yourself longing and wishing that things were another way, stop and remember that you always have the power to choose what you’re going to focus on.

Next, make the powerful decision to shift your focus, and give the energy of thoughts to focusing instead on what it is that you would truly love… and then make a simple decision to do one thing today to begin bringing that which you would love into existence!

And now, I have a question for you…

What’s one thing that you can do today to pour more energy and focus into what you would truly love to create for yourself and your life?

In honor of Father’s Day, it may be to connect with the father figure in your life, and to let them know they’re appreciated for the contribution they’ve made in your life.

Or, you may choose to take a step toward a different dream that you have for some other part of your life!

Go ahead and share what step you’re going to take today toward one of your dreams in the comments below – I’d love to hear from you!