Did I Help My Daughter Enough?

Stephen

I was driving home from seeing my sixteen-year-old daughter. She lives with her mother now, about an hour and a half south of me by highway. She was troubled and worried about some things and not able, she thought, to talk to her mother about them.

My heart went out to her as I tried to come up with some solutions for her. Try as I might, I just felt I wasn’t helping her much. I wanted to make her problems go away, as all parents do, but I knew realistically these were all part of her learning lessons and balancing out her karma with others—especially her mother! I was frustrated and disappointed in myself for not being able to help her more than by just listening and being accepting and loving.

On the way home, I was still wondering how I could have helped her more, how I could have been a better dad to her. As I was sort of getting down on myself, a car moved in front of me on the highway. I saw it but didn’t pay much attention to it, as I was immersed in self-criticism. Finally, I noticed its license plate. It read GR8PAPA. Once I had absorbed this, the car sped off ahead, as if knowing I got the message.

I felt myself choke up, and tears formed as I realized it was an amazing gift from the MAHANTA! You see, my daughter is half Spanish and has always called me “Papa” instead of Daddy, Dad, or Father. The ECK was saying to me that I was a great papa!

I was so touched and grateful and humbled. I must have meant enough to the MAHANTA, the Inner Master, that he wanted to cheer me up and reassure me that I had done fine with my daughter.