Every week the phone rang on Tuesday afternoon while Bill was at work. Bill, an entrepreneur in his forties knew who was calling. As he looked at his caller ID he could feel his body tightening up. His breathing became more rapid. Beads of perspiration would form on his forehead.
Bill had achieved success in various enterprises over the years. He would start a business only to have it implode on him in 3 to 5 years. In fact, he knew he had a 3 to 5 year window before it was time to start all over again. As he got ready to answer the phone that day he was tired. He was in that 3 to 5 year window.
Bill would ask himself why he wasn’t further along. He wondered why his life had not turned out the way he wanted it to. Even his marriage that had started out so brightly was heading to divorce. Bill was overweight and facing major health challenges.
He knew he was smart. He had done well in school. People were always complimenting Bill on his insightfulness and creativity. Yet, those same people never hung around long. His life had been a revolving door of relationships. When he needed someone to talk to there was no place to turn. He was alone and lonely.
As Bill picked up the phone his hand tightened like a fist around the receiver. He was angry. He took a deep breath. And then he spoke, “Hi Dad, how are you?”
With those words a flood of memories came back to when he was 9 and his Dad left his Mom and him. Bill was the little boy who never recovered from the hurt. His Dad had no contact with him until he was 18. Starting in his early twenties his Dad would call him every week.
And when he called, he told Bill about his wonderful life with another new woman and about all the money he was earning. His Dad always focused on his life and how great it was. He would always say that they needed to get together. Yet, now in his forties, Bill had never seen him since he was nine.
Anger would well up inside Bill. At the end of every conversation his Dad would ask Bill how his life was. Bill didn’t have much to say. He had learned that whatever he told his Dad, the response would be, “you can do better than that”.