I've been waiting for a long time to share this with someone too. If you guys don't want to read through is fine. Also, if my story helps in you in any way, I'll be happy.
A father's love for his son is shown in a very different way than that of a mother. Women are incredibly good at being caring and charming and that's why they are wired to have children and take care of babies, but a dad not showing the same behaviour doesn't mean he doesn't love you, he's a man. His emotional intelligence is inferior than the one of a woman. A man is a provider, a hunter, a farmer, a builder, a warrior. A man is not wired to smile gently and be caring. A man is wired to be strong, to fight and to cooperate. No wonder why boys are closer to their mother. And guess what, 'girls' from a very early age closer to their father.
It took me 27 years to realize how great my dad was and how much he loved me. He had a tough life and worked in the security industry for 30 years so he didn't have much freedom to 'spend time' with his son. He had to experience horrible things, nearly lost his life several times and had to go through a lot of shit himself throughout his life. Worked like a mule every week, night and day. Experienced a lot of stress. And all of that for his sons and wife to have a comfortable life, for his sons to have a great education and maybe, have a better life than his. My mother used to tell me: that man gave you two everything he could except 'love'.
What I can recall in my teens and childhood is that he was cold, he was stoic, he used to bully me when I cried like a baby and didn't support me letting grow my hair or listening to english rock music because I'd end up being a weirdo and a junkie. He was kind of a passive-aggresive person and didn't take shit from me or my mom. When he came home he didn't look happy and didn't talk much. My mom always appeared to be so meek, so reticent. And she often cried when they argued. And so I sided with my mom, why? because he looked distant, violent, aggresive yet my mother was so defenseless and caring for me. She would encourage me to be everything I wanted, to let my hair grow, to be a musician. She even told me if I was gay she would be ok because she would love me unconditionally. My dad bullied me for not walking straight, for not taking care of my hair, for crying for petty things, for giving a shit for those girls who rejected me in school, for not speaking like a man. What a 'terrible' person he was.
I don't have a good recollection as I was very young but at some point I think my mom tried to or cheated on him and things got really fucked up. My parents divorced. The man went mad and the very little relationship I had with him was broken altogether. He was a 'jelaous' and 'horrible' man. I hated him, I wanted to kill him. I wanted him to disappear and leave me alone. It was his fault, he didn't spend time with us, he wasn't loving or caring for me or mom. Mom didn't have a choice.
I'll cut out most of the irrelevant stuff but 12 or 13 years later I have the best relationship with my dad that I can't still believe it. The neo-masculinity gave me all answers. I fixed my relationship with my Father. I know your father is a complete different person than mine, but there is a lot of things that you're saying that I also experienced and felt, so to make a long story short about my story and some of your thoughts that I also had, here's some of my thoughts.
Quote:but i feel like because i haven't actually had a dad i could talk to and a dad teach me about life
1.In my case, my dad couldn't spend time with me or mom, because he was busy PROVIDING for his family. He was born in a cruel and difficult world so he didn't have time to be a pussy. He was tired, he was working his ass off for mom, my brother and I.
He didn't have time to teach me about life but why would he? Isn't he teaching me a lesson already through his actions and his life? His work ethic, his discipline, his pride, his masculinity. Guess what, girls and women around have always found him attractive. I realised how tired he was when I completed my first full year working a tiring 9-5 job. I can't judge him anymore.
Quote:In my 23 years i've not once in my life sat down and talked with my dad about life, just the 2 of us. Our egos always conflicted on each other and we never really had the "talks" most guys have. Never built a connection with my dad the way i wanted to.
2. You can't force those talks, they come naturally. I first had to start saying yes sir when he asked me for something (in colombia we do that to our parents as a sign of respect not in a military way). Then months later I began to call him dad, father. He asked for something and I just said 'Yes dad, yes father (this was crucial at least in my culture). Then I just spend gradually a lot of time with the old man. I didn't have to sit with him and talk about 'life' with him. We were just there silent. Watching a soccer game. Watching the news. Then he told a story or two about how he almost got killed by communist guerrillas in the putumayo river/colombia. Then we talked some more. Then a hot 'anchorwoman' appeared in the news and we agreed she was attractive. Another day I was there helping him to cook and then a story came up about a girl he liked and he gamed when he was in highschool (game in those times was easy as fuck). Then after years, there it was, a 'connection' with my father. There we were, 'connecting'. He was teaching me how to cook the basic colombian plates and saying how much he liked that 'gringo loco' called trump. I was talking about life with my father, first, by living with him. I just think it was easy for fathers and sons of the past to 'connect' when they were just doing stuff like hunting, gathering, farming or preparing a steak I don't know.
Quote:Everyone else had strong father figures and loved spending time with their dads. Mine never supported me in the hobbies i took upon. I remember i used to envy my friends whose father would go to football games with them and support them, he would give a fuck about their hobbies and spend time talking to them about their interests. Mine was different. He only cared about 2 things. His son getting a good education and his son projecting a good and respectable image for other parents in our social circle.
3.In my case, He never cared about rock music, ancient roman history, silly xbox videogames, English language and a bunch of other things. But he showed his love by buying me an electric guitar, buying some english courses, purchasing an xbox for me. His priority as well was to get his son to get a good education (because he wanted me to have money and status) He also wanted me to project a good and respectable image in general, I'm not so sure with other parents but because a good and respectable image would help his son to get laid and girls love that (Game right there). My father is not a perfect person and he doesn't have to like all my stuff, he is not a girl who would pretend he cares about Led zeppelin or Nirvana, why would he?. In your case have you cared about his hobbies or interests? Have you been the perfect son he expected? Don't be so tough at him.
Quote:A religious household. He never taught me about women. He has only been with one woman throughout his whole life, my mother. He's in his 50s now and im afraid im wasting the only chance i have to get to know him better before he passes away.
4. My dad is clueless about what we call game. He didn't teach me anything about women. Our parents were born in a different world. Don't judge him. As far as my dad goes, he only said one time or two something about not giving a fuck about what women think, getting my life together, and one time more about not giving a fuck and maybe practice a sport. WHOA. Game right there.
Quote: But he forgot one very important aspect. Love. Maybe he never knew how to express it since his dad never showed him it. His dad was a very stoic and well-respected man in the area. Very professional and some would describe emotionless.
5. My mom used to tell me about this one a lot. And she brainwashed me with this. A way for a masculine man to express love is different. He doesn't have to be caring or charming, it leans more to stoic respect and providing. That's fatherly love. I only tell my father than I love him in new years eve. He is teaching you game right there bro. Have you ever as a man expressed 'love' and saw how that turns out in real life to real men?
Quote:My dad used to beat the shit out of me nearly every day. I was a troubled kid at home and i was pissing myself just hearing the words from the principal office "we're gonna call your dad up here". I knew what was waiting for me at home. A hell of a beating and sometimes with the belt.
6. In my case I was scared as fuck to screw up in high school because my dad would beat the shit out of me. But I figured out a lot of that too. Do you know why christians call God 'Father', have you heard about the fear of God? Fear goes along masculine principles of respect, honor, discipline and submission to authority. I stopped fearing dad when I became a man and I earned his respect. I somehow had to defy his authority but by doing so I showed him I was a man, not longer a child or a little pussy.
Quote:My mom, on the other hand, did EVERYTHING to help me. Always comforted me when i was sad, crying, depressed. She showered me with love. She would go behind my dads back and slide me some money whenever i needed it. I love my mother. Such a beautiful, feminine and caring woman. She goes out of her own way to please everybody. Even if that means she will get the blame for things. She would take the hit for me when my dad went crazy. "You're spoiling him, he's becoming a complete failure and having shitty grades and you're comforting him saying its ok its alright, is that how you're gonna treat him?"
7. That's why we need a mother and father. We need both energies. We need the strong dad who doesn't take shit from none in his household and the caring woman. That balance is what makes a healthy person. Yet this balance is never perfect therefore we are all imperfect (NEWS!). That last sentence you mentioned is exactly what I will tell my son when he gets bad grades or comes home complaining about how a girl broke his heart because he was a nice and caring guy. 'You're spoiling him!, I told him to be an asshole and careless motherfucker. He shouldn't be crying like a girl, hey son stop crying like a girl, that bitch doesn't care about you, better work out' 2 years of forum research saved.
Quote:I want to get rid of all the built up hate and ego inside of me. Any tips on what i should work on to fix my relationship with my dad and sister? I think it's time to forgive and become a better person. I've been a piece of shit for too long without realizing how much im hurting people i don't want to hurt. I've never spoken to anyone in my life about this issue.
8. Dude, take it easy. When I was a kid I hated my dad so much that I wanted to kill him. Now I'm planning to some day go out to a shooting range so he can teach me how to shoot a 9mm gun. We are dealing with some financial problems at the moment.
It won't be an overnight thing. It may take years for you to heal that relationship with him. It's up to you to figure it out, but start slowly. Spend time with him, no need to 'talk about life' yet. Sit down with him, if it doesn't work then try by talking to him a bit more. He's a man so he must have wisdom that you will see reflected here. He's not perfect, and you are not the perfect son. From there on just don't be so tough to him and take the best he can give you. If things don't work out like in my case yet you were the man by trying all of that and your conscience should be at ease. If I came off as rude at some point I'm sorry, but I just went through something very similar and pulled it off by doing more and thinking less. We 'men' have hamsters sometime spinning as well. I just wanted to share my story, thanks for reading, I never did before and I'm happy I did so in this forum.