What I learned from the Bruce Springsteen biopic

Last week I went to see the Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere. This movie hit me right between the eyes.

For those of us who have had problematic relationships with our fathers, there is scene after scene after scene where what appears to be about a seven-year-old Bruce Springsteen only wants one thing from his father. He wants to be loved.

There was a scene where the young Bruce hears his father come home. Young Bruce runs down the stairs and sits on the landing waiting for his father to come in. When he does, his father walks by the stairs, looks up, sees Young Bruce, and continues on as if there is no reason to acknowledge him in any way.

Being invisible to your father at seven years old is a terrible thing. My own experience wasn't as brutal, but not far off. All I really wanted was to be loved. Instead, I learned that love is conditional and is based on the behavior that I showed.

I'm afraid I showed some of the same behaviors towards my children. I was so wrapped up in my business that my body may have been at home, but my mind wasn't even close.

I wonder why there aren't more programs that help fathers, especially fathers who own businesses, to realize that their children are not their employees and that they need to be treated as children and not adults.

I would like to see this change and all of the business gurus that are out there. I've never read or heard any advice about how to own a business that's stressful, and then turning off the intensity when they go home.

If you happen to have young children at home. Here's some free advice.

Your children are not your employees. They are impressionable young people who need better than what many of us have given or shown. If we can figure this out, we won't find ourselves at 70+ years old feeling separated from, or even worse, from our children. And yes, as we get older, having strong relationships with our immediate family becomes even more important. I just hope I haven't blown it permanently.