How I became a Successful Business Woman from being Unsuccessful in Love...

Chapter 23

The next gloomy morning, my father came into my room, sat quietly beside me, and wrapped his arm around me like a warm blanket. I'm called my father's heartbeat. His children are his world, and his daughter is the apple of his eye. I feel the same connection with my father. Some say you can communicate with some people on a soul level without using words. People say I'm a true copy of my dad, whether it's his eating habits or his goodness. We have the same weaknesses and habits, but he's stronger. Life made him strong. He became a fighter to save his family from the world. He was a romantic who wanted a soul mate. My mom wanted the same, but they never saw each other as soul mates.

Our parents loved their three children. They become their lives. We could not have asked for better parents. They are great teachers and give us so much. My father was emotional, passionate, and everything a daughter wanted in a hero. He was a real-life hero. He started his business career at age 15 because he couldn't afford the $10 monthly school fees. He was accepted to one of the best medical colleges in the country because he wanted to help those in need for free. But destiny had other plans for him. When he was in college, the family's finances were bad. They had just one warm blanket on a cold winter night, but a woman asked my grandmother to spare one. My grandmother couldn't give her only a blanket because her four kids would die from the cold, so she gave her only soft mattress. My father and his siblings couldn't afford fruits and juices like other kids in town or like their own cousins, who made them jealous by showing them their latest clothes and chocolates.

My grandmother was hospitalised in my father's childhood with low survival odds. My dad was 7-8 years old. He took care of his older sister, younger brother, and sister. My grandfather had to go to work for his monthly salary, leaving the kids to get ready for school, pack their tiffins, etc., on their own. My grandmother recovered after a year but couldn't do much while the kids struggled. The youngest daughter became so ill that they might have to give her to a wealthy couple to get her treated, but my grandparents arranged the money and treated her themselves. My dad had many hardships. He saw how my grandfather wrapped an ice-cold towel around his head when he went to work with a fever in hot weather so he wouldn't faint. They slept on empty stomachs for lack of food. My grandfather later started a successful business. My father joined him, but they suffered losses and debt.

My father quit school at 15 to work. He vowed that none of his family members would suffer and that his children would attend the best colleges they wanted. Best education, best medical facilities...a choice to live life one's way. At 54, he's one of the wealthiest people in the country, respected, and an inspiration. From home oil extraction to a real estate empire, he's never done anything wrong. He understands money's value, so he made sure we did too. Not spoiled. Our dad taught us from the start that you must work to enjoy the money. Money isn't everything, but it's needed to live comfortably. With vision and hard work, he made 11 industries profitable. Is he happy despite his success? Well, that's a different story.

My father is still trying to understand life. Never complained. Many things in his life didn't go as planned, but he never criticised anyone or God. If I asked him why, he would say it must be part of God's plan. Life is much more than emotions, love, sex, money, or power... life is about serving others, unconditionally helping those in need; life is about learning; there is so much to learn, so many books, so many people, so many topics that one lifetime is insufficient. Ife is about sacrificing yourself for unconditional love ... Life is about stretching your limits and becoming better every day.

Yes, all those lines were true for my father. He helped uncountable people in every phase of life (medical, marriage, house, education, etc.) without expecting anything in return. He's read millions of books and made friends from all walks of life through learning. People connect with my father instantly and become his friends for life after just one meeting. And the third line: yes, I have seen my father physically, mentally, and emotionally sacrificing himself for his three children every day, every minute, and every second. That was his unconditional love for them, especially his darling daughter, to whom he has never said no to anything; well, even she has not asked for anything that would upset her father.