Father's Regret

was a man named David who believed in tough love. He had grown up in a harsh world, where survival meant being strong, not soft. His father had never shown him kindness, believing that discipline and control were the keys to success. David, in turn, adopted these principles when he became a father.

His daughter, Lily, was everything he wasn’t—a dreamer, a gentle soul who loved painting, writing poetry, and getting lost in the world of her imagination. But these things didn’t matter to David. He saw only weakness in her softness, believing that to be successful in life, Lily needed to be toughened up, just as he had been.

He would often scold her for daydreaming, telling her that her "silly fantasies" wouldn’t help her survive in the real world. Every time she came to him excited about a new painting or a story she had written, he would dismiss her with a cold, “That’s not important. Stop wasting time on nonsense.”

As the years went by, Lily became quieter. The spark in her eyes faded, and her passion for art and storytelling withered away under her father's harsh words. Her smile became rare, and the vibrant colors she used to paint with turned to dull shades. David didn’t notice the changes, too caught up in his rigid beliefs about what it meant to be strong.

Then one day, Lily sat in her room, staring at a blank canvas. She picked up her paintbrush, but the colors didn’t flow like they once did. The canvas felt empty, just like her. She closed her eyes, the words her father had spoken over the years echoing in her mind: "You need to stop wasting time.”

The next morning, David came home after a long day of work. As he walked through the door, he noticed a letter on the table. It was addressed to him in Lily's familiar handwriting.

He opened it, and his heart sank as he read the words:

Dad, I’m sorry for disappointing you. I tried to be what you wanted me to be, but I’ve lost who I am. I’m leaving to find myself. I hope one day you’ll understand why I had to do this."

Tears welled in David’s eyes. His heart ached as he realized the truth. In his attempts to make Lily stronger, he had broken her spirit. He had failed to see that she didn’t need to be tough like him. She needed love, encouragement, and the freedom to be herself.

He immediately searched for her, calling her name through the streets and sending messages. But Lily had gone, and in her absence, David found nothing but the weight of his mistakes.

Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months. David never stopped searching for his daughter, but he never stopped regretting his harshness. It was only then, when he realized the pain he had caused, that he understood the true strength of a father's love: it wasn’t about molding his daughter into someone she wasn’t, but helping her become everything she was meant to be.

In the end, David learned the hardest lesson of all—that to love your daughter means to let her flourish, not to force her into a mold of your own making.