My dad, a flying tiger.

Me and my dad on the plane, flying to China, for the first time ever. We went with our whole family.

One day we were watching a Chinese movie with the family. I was about 9, it was one of those traditional ones. Where people can fly from rooftop to rooftop, usually fighting in midair as well. I didn’t quite understand it, how can they fly?

So I turned to my dad and asked him, how come they could fly? And he said Chinese people believe that you have power, qi, inside. Looking for words to describe it to me, he said, a sort of kung fu power. And if you are a shifu (master) and can unlock it your powers enable you to fly. Which these people did and now have incredible strong powers and are able to do magical things. Such as fly from rooftop to rooftop. 

The dream to fly

I was thinking back to this childhood memory recently and I realized that it’s exactly what I spent my life trying to do. The dream is to unlock my inner powers and do magical things. Live an authentically powerful life full of magic. And yes, being able to “fly”. 

A tiger in the room

When my dad enters a room you will know it, everyone will know it. He has this major presence and personality. It seems effortless and natural, it’s just his nature. Often even if people have met him only once many years or decades ago, upon meeting him again, they remember the only time they’ve seen him before.

I find his Chinese horoscope so fitting, he’s a tiger. And he so is. He lives in his natural power, has so much presence, he is all heart and passion, is so focused, has a unique perseverance and belief. He is unstoppable. My dad has become a shifu in many areas of his life. And some not quite yet. He is the talk of many people. Puzzled by how he has become who he is and how he does it. I often try to dissect and understand my dad. What is the making of such a man?

It’s a question I’m still trying to answer. As many of his family, friends and people he works with also try to answer. He is an enigma. It looks like magic. How does he fly like that? 

The vision

My dad left his home country, China, to come to Europe, at the age of 15, with only pocket change. He had nothing. He did have some family here. He started at the bottom. He worked in restaurants. 12 hour days, 7 days a week (for decades, mom as well). 

A few years later he met my mom and they started a family of four. Two girls, two boys, in that order. I was the second daughter. 

My dad had dreams so strong that I have to call them a vision. He was, his whole life that I have seen, unwavering in his beliefs in his vision and himself. He was going to build a big life for his family. He was to be an entrepreneur. He could always see, even when others didn’t, he always believed, when most didn’t. He just knew he could do more, he knew what he wanted and he just did it. He is now a successful entrepreneur, together with my mom and family. They own several restaurants. And he’s never done, he’s always looking for new ways to create something new. We suspect he just loves building things up. Creating. Always eager, always has ideas and inspirations. Always sees ways and solutions. Unstoppable.

The brave

One of the things that I’m most proud of is this: he has been the same passionate, confident, focused, heart centered man whether he has “success” or is seemingly “failing”. I’ve seen him do both. Many many times he failed. His road to success was a long one. Decades he tried and failed, tried and failed. But he always learned and failed better. (Until he learned so much that he knew how to succeed.) So many businesses he set up failed, that I’ve kinda lost count. And yet he was always the same person. He always got up and he always believed he could, he didn't doubt himself or his vision. It’s actually hard to tell whether my dad is succeeding or failing, cause he doesn’t change much whichever is happening. It’s one of his most fascinating features, to me that is. He is as brave and strong as a tiger. 

The heart

He is eager to show the power he knows he has, in a very matter of fact way, he just knows. There is no arrogance about it. He isn’t even in it for the money. He’s always thinking how he can give back. Helps those who have less and need help. The surplus food that my family’s restaurants have is donated to the Food bank. 

One time he was screaming to me, when I was in the kitchen and he in the living room, “COME HERE NOW”. I thought something had happened to someone, something seriously. And it turned out, well yes and no. Not per se in our living room, but out in the world. He was looking at some sort of documentary or special about people in Afrika. They were not looking too healthy and obviously had little. And he started saying, or preaching, we have to help those who don’t have. That’s important. We need to help each other. And I totally agreed. He wanted me to see it and know that helping is important.

The flying tiger

My dad simply wants to play this game of life, to see how far he can come. And he wants to go far and he knows he can get very far. And I get to see him play it. And I can’t stop being fascinating. How does a tiger fly? 

I asked him once, “what makes you so brave?, Why aren’t you scared?” He said, “I have nothing to lose. I had nothing. I have everything, when I have my wife and my family. I have nothing to lose.” And he ends up saying his motto in life, which he says over and over, to anyone and everyone, “Gewoon doen.” Which is Dutch for “Just do it”. “Niet denken, gewoon doen”. Don’t think, just do. 

Shine your crazy bright light! Just do it :).

With love,

An-na