Appreciation Dialogue: Dedication and Fatherhood – Please Listen Below
LISTEN TO THIS LIVE IMAGO DIALOGUE
WITH AMY AND MICHAEL SHERMAN OF COURAGEOUS LOVING
I’m going to be honest with you – I still don’t believe or even comprehend that I’m a father. It’s been two years since we’ve adopted Twyla, and she’s the best thing on earth. She calls me “Daddy” all the time – and I love hearing that – but it takes a little work to think of myself as a father. Maybe because my father is gone? Maybe because I think of fatherhood as being a grown up, and I’m still not into the idea being a grown up.
The beautiful thing about participating in an Imago Appreciation Dialogue, is it lets you receive what’s true about you as other people see it. There’s an art to receiving. When you listen to a dialogue, it may seem pedantic to “mirror” someone – to tell them – “So what I hear you saying is…” but that’s the whole point. Stop talking. Start listening. Deeply. Slow down.
And when you do, you will hear things about yourself that you may be disowning. Like my own fatherhood. Listen how the way I play the role of father affects my wife, Amy. Listen how what she says affects me. Hearing about how she sees me as a father awakens me to the fact that I’ve applied this loving dedication to my new family, but to my business. It helps me to see the parallel between the personal and the professional.
There’s a dance to this work, and it takes practice. I’m grateful to share it with you.
Please comment below. Warmly, Michael Sherman
