Pursuit of Happiness

I slammed the door and caught my reflection in the mirror on the back.   I was angry.   Taking all the clothes I could find and stuffing them into a duffel bag, I hesitated for a moment… then raised the window and climbed out.   Turning back, I saw my father in the living room.   He was sitting on the couch, drink in hand.   The scene was like a broken record – always exactly the same.   It was as if nothing had changed at all in nine years.
We all receive those greeting cards that arrive in the mail before Christmas.   They create the image that the perfect family actually exists; you're staring right at it.   Yes, the people in the pictures may look happy, but you never know what's hidden behind the cheery-eyed looks and smiling faces.   We all go about our lives in different ways, and the decisions we make fill the time in between the snaps of film.   Relationships, in my experience, take a lot of work, especially if you want them to last.   Simply hoping that your problems, your differences, and your rifts with someone will all just go away in time doesn't change anything.   On the other hand, the ability to change the way you not only approach a situation, but also interact in the given moment, is what I have learned can be most useful when attempting to heal a relationship.
Whenever I try to understand the relationship I have with my father, it is always incredibly frustrating and challenging.   Sometimes I feel like we're both trains, traveling on the same track, bound to collide.   His oversensitivity and tendency to overreact aggravate me.   We have entirely different views on life and responsibility, which is the source for much of our confliction.   As opposed to my father’s outdated and rigid values, I believe in a more open way of thinking.   I accept people for who they are and form judgments on the basis of how they have treated me, no matter what their backgrounds or personal beliefs may be.   I am frustrated by the fact that on one hand, I look up to my father,...