Toys and Toddlers
The months after Rafe was born were some of the most beautiful I've ever had. Ida was now two and a half and grew more confident and engaging by the day. Rafe just slept and poohed and cried and smiled and that was more than enough.
This time I took a more measured approach to my role as a father. Instead of driving myself to an inevitable hospitalisation, Kathryn made sure I balanced my roles as Trunki Daddy and Real Daddy without killing myself in the process.
Above all, being a father gave me a sense of what really mattered. Fighting the Great Trunki War and turning the factory around had cost me and the business a small fortune, yet despite the ongoing struggles at work, having children put everything in a clear perspective. It was as if all my problems were like layered coatings on a ball and, as each one fell away, they revealed a hidden truth and that truth is the meaning of success.
The biggest mistake we make is to imagine success as self-aggrandisement, a compulsive narcissism that feeds on outward displays of wealth and power. We're like the popes, kings and princes of the Middle Ages, competing to build the tallest cathedral. If asked, the great cathedral builders would say they were serving God. It's easy to say they were serving themselves but, in truth, they served neither God nor themselves because they were chasing the wrong dream. Success and the status that comes with it can never be found outside ourselves. They have to come from within. ...
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