This story is for all you men out there with kids that look up to you.  If you are a father, you should know your children look to you to be invincible.  They rely on you to be strong at all times.  About 4 months ago my son started commenting that I was not in as good as shape as I was last year.  At the time he said this I was resentful towards someone in my life and frankly didn’t care that I let myself go, I felt they didn't deserve the best me.  I should have, because to my son it meant the world.  I forgot that more than one person in my life needed me to be great.

Quietly I started to work out again.  In the past 3 weeks I shown my greatest improvement and as luck would have it tonight he punched me in the chest lightly to see if I was muscular or flab.  He responded with pride and satisfaction.  This was strange, how could my son sit in judgment of me I thought?

I answered his actions with “Satisfied?” He then said, “Much better.”  He went on to talk about me and girls and I was shocked.  My son really wanted the best for me, as if I was the one that had to bring home the right girl, not him.  It was almost awkward.  I decide to simply get it out in the open...

“Why is it important to you that I be in great shape?”  The answer was one only a child could provide.  It was simple, “I want to be proud of you.”

I knew that.  But I never knew how much it meant to a boy that his father stay strong and youthful.  My son looks up to me and needs me to be a good role model.  Sadly he’s seen things that little boys don’t deserve, but somehow he’s retained his innocence.  And I take a lot of credit for that.  He still “tra la la’s” around the house with a carefree goofy manner that only a child can display.

But I know now that as I add a year to my life every year, that my son is watching, and willing me not to be older but to remain SuperMan in his life.  It is a tall order and I realize that in reality for now, SuperMan has nothing on me.  And I suppose the stakes are going up as right behind him is his younger brother that yearns to be like both him and I. 

I’m proud to have two son’s that see me this way.  I’ve worked hard to earn my label as SuperMan among them.  I’m working out more than ever now, I find myself stretching all day, while watching news, or between phone calls or while food cooks.  I’m eating light foods 95% of the time and I’m even seeing my waistline shrink again.  My next goal is to return to the gym where I made friends once before that I blew off. 

I have a theory, “The mind moves towards what it sees.  If you never give up you get there.”  I have a new vision quest.  It has a lot to do with something my son told me to do tonight. (I'll keep that to myself thank you).  I’m out to get something right that I got wrong for years.  I’m out to prove to a long standing obstacle that I was the proverbial fish you don’t throw back.  I am the one that got away.  So I have my son to thank for reminding me months ago that I meant so much to him.  I’ve been my son’s hero for a long time; today my son is my hero.