BEING AN “OLDER” DAD

I have this repeating mind image of dropping my daughter at school in a few years⁣
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All the other dads turn up⁣
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They’re young⁣
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They’re energetic⁣
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They’re “cool”⁣
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And I’m 43⁣
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And there’s two possible scenarios involving me⁣
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𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟭 - 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝗱,⁣
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I’m overweight, tired, run down, and just happy to get rid of her for a few hours⁣
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𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟮 - 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻, 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲⁣
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I’m fit, strong, energetic, and laughing with her.⁣
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I drop her off, rip into a solid day of work, then pick her up in the afternoon and run back home!⁣
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𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟭 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.⁣
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I know what I want…⁣
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And I know why I want it…⁣
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This whole “𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨”⁣
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It’s a cliche,⁣
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Until you think about it.⁣
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If you’re 30-40 years old and completely pickled because you haven’t got yourself healthy, ⁣
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𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟱𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛𝗬 𝗱𝗮𝗱.⁣
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And yesterday with my fit-dad best mate Troy, I was reminded of this…⁣