My Dear Son,

  Mindlessly looking out the window, I notice the tree I planted last summer coming back to life. I feel the pain the tree must have gone through during the winter, yet I am overjoyed that it has survived through the season. New leaves will be born into the world soon, and I wonder what you will be thinking. I suspect I will be worrying about the leaves as they face the harshest conditions of nature.
 This tree reminds me of you, a young tree waiting out the chilly winter to be greeted by the spring. I must admit I miss the spring season of my life as I enter the autumn. My tree is full of colorful leaves and berries, but it does not bring the same excitement it did during the spring.

 Looking back to it now, I do not think I fully enjoyed the spring of my life. Whenever I was shaken, blown by the wind, or if I saw another tree growing faster than me, I grew antsy. Of course there were times when I believed I owned the world, but do you know what I regret the most? I regret not taking advantage of the opportunities. Not because I could not take advantage of those opportunities, but because I did not want to. I could have explored, looking for new paths to expand my horizons. I had the chance to recover from risky attempts I could have taken.
Yet, I found myself hiding away from the chances for my own safety. I sometimes forgot what was important in my life just to save myself from possible pains and injuries. It might even be more appropriate to say I never knew what was important in my life during that time. I was worried about the challenges I faced at the time, and I did not really think about how these challenges were going to shape me in the future. I foolishly blamed the wind for snapping my branches and for causing my leaves to fall. I whined and complained that I was not lucky enough to be in a sunny spot like other trees.

 I think this is your privilege. The privilege that youth gives you, you should enjoy it. Of course the responsibilities of the privileges lie with you. Nevertheless, I want to enforce the mindset that you should do what you want to do, not what your mom and I want you to do. Even though you are not what we want you to be, we will never be disappointed in you because we love you. We know you will grow up well.
 Finally, I sincerely hope that you do not make the same mistakes I did. I want you to be able to think about tomorrow as well as the distant future. I want you to remember that you are still a growing tree with lots of opportunities to become bigger and that you are not the big tree just yet. Lastly, I want you to remember that everyone who loves you will always care for you.


 
 Love,
 Your Daddy
#284 Editorial

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