It's 2010! Time to get down to business.

Dear Jisu,

So we are into the year that you will be born! The New Year has come and passed and it was relatively uneventful. Your mom and I just got back from a vacation to Las Vegas. It's not a place that is good for bringing kids. Way too many hookers and drunks. It is a very interesting place to visit for looking around though...decadent is a great way to describe it. The greatest part of the trip was visiting the grand canyon though. It's definitely worth the trip.

Now that the trip is over, it's back to normal life, and I am kind of happy about that. I feel like I have a renewed sense of capability. I think maybe it has something to do with the novel that I just read. It's called "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. The book was decent, but not his best. The biggest undertone of the story was about humanity's untapped potential. The whole idea that people are so much more capable than we believe we are got me thinking about my own unfulfilled capability. There is so much more that I am capable of taking on in my life. I want to correct that. I can work harder to make more money, I can help more around the house to help out your mom. I'm going to have a lot more responsibility when you are around and I am going to be taking that on as well!

The reality of the world is that there are things that are impossible. If you only grow to be 3 feet tall, you are not going to be a star NBA player. You are not going to be able to run a 5 second mile. Those kinds of impossibilities should never stop you from trying to reach your own incredible potential though. Sometimes people lose track of what they are truly capable of and they get stuck in this zone of thinking that they can't do any better. Yes, they can. There are people who go from being homeless to being millionaires. There are people who live in countries where almost everyone is poor and have no food to eat, and yet they become great leaders who bring hope to entire nations. There are people who grow up in violent homes who become great parents and community leaders against domestic violence. The truth of the matter is that you don't have to live up to anybody else's potential. You just have to strive to reach your own potential. It can be a lot of work, but when you look back on your life, the last thing you will want to do is feel like you've wasted it.

It may seem like silly idea because you will never, ever reach that full potential. Nobody ever does. But if you want to be a great student, a great worker, a great parent, a great person, you have to try.

I know I will.

Love,
Dad