Becoming a man and a father requires the ability to commit to your family and to sacrifice for them. Here is a frank interview of a dad who had to learn the virtue of commitment while on the job. Benjamin Franklin said, “Honesty is the best policy.” Zig Ziglar, one of the world’s greatest motivational speakers, put it this way, “The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, ...

In his book The Power of Commitment, Scott Stanley (USA) provides some very useful insights into the nature of commitment. He identifies two types of relationship commitment: constraints and dedication. Constraint Commitment Constraint commitment refers to the ‘forces’ that resist the separation of a couple even when one or both partners would prefer to leave the relationship. Constraints tend to accumulate with the relationship and begin from very early on, before ...

The DIDs story, Part 1. My name is Tony Miller, and I am the founder and national coordinator of a group called Dads in Distress, a dedicated support group of men whose immediate concern is to stem the present trend of male suicide due to the trauma of divorce or separation. Current statistics indicate that 5.3 males per day or 37 males per week (ABS Information Paper, Suicides 2001) will take ...

Anzac Day — what do I think about that? Well, firstly I’m grateful, grateful to soldiers who laid down their lives for me so that today I live in peace because of their selflessness, their courage, their daring. So I am grateful, and I spend the weekend carrying thoughts of those men in my heart. I wonder how many were fathers; I wonder how many families had to survive without a ...

Today is Anzac Day, 25th April. The most holy day in the Australian calendar. It is a day when we remember the men who gave their lives for us all, that we might walk in freedom. Dawn Remembrance Services are held across the nation.  This phrase from the Bible is repeated ten thousand times, if not more, in these dawn gatherings: “Greater love has no man than this that he lay ...

We as fathers need to pass on our love for Australia to our children. If we do not, who will? I am not talking about some sort of jingoistic conceit for our country, but a clear and deep love of our nation despite our nation’s many weaknesses. Yes, and we need to pass on to our children a deep love and respect for our Indigenous people too! I believe we have ...

Robert Falzon, a good friend of mine in the men’s movement, asked me to contribute a chapter to his new book called Raising Fathers: Fathering from the Frontline — 12 Men’s Stories. Here is an excerpt from my contribution. It was a fine weather Sunday in this small resort town. The café was full of people having their lunch. No one seemed to recall seeing the young man with blonde hair ...

It was 7.30AM Saturday morning. I stumbled out of bed, on my way to the kitchen to get my breakfast cereal, and investigated the living room. There was my son, curled up on the lounge, trying to sleep with his 2-year-old son sitting on top of him and jumping up and down while watching TV. The scene was priceless. My son was trying to let his wife have an undisturbed sleep-in ...

We celebrate Mothers next Sunday, 10 May 2020, but do we really celebrate motherhood all year round? Sadly, the reverse is the case. Mothering is regularly maligned and belittled in mainstream media. Oftentimes, mothers are mocked for their sacrificial devotion to their families. If you think I am exaggerating, read this relatively recent article by Dianne Anders titled: “Aussie wife slammed by Today Show hosts for loving family epic response”. Brooke ...

Every child believes his or her dad is a hero. Sadly, this was confirmed in the most horrific way in the tragedy of the recent bushfires. So far, out of the 26 deaths, three were men who gave their life in service for others as volunteers in the Rural Fire Service. Two were fathers, and one was expecting his first child in May. I remember as a child reading commando war ...

Some time ago a friend invited me to meet the Founder & President of ‘Champions of Honour’, a significant men’s network from the USA. I quickly rearranged my schedule and headed over to Gloria Jean’s Coffee Shop to catch up with Chuck Brewster (Chuck being a shortened term for Charles in American terminology). I must confess that I have a tendency to scepticism for many things that come from America.  My ...

I know many men who feel uncomfortable with the attention that they get on Father’s Day. I guess for many years as a father, I was one of those. I was very hesitant to celebrate Father’s Day. Many years ago I had the same negative attitude to Christmas Day, because of all the crass commercialism. I changed, you can too. As a man once said, “When you eat the chicken, make ...

At primary school, my eldest son was very keen on cricket. Big problem: the school was not connected into the local cricket team network. So he networked. Cajoling staff and friends’ parents alike, he sweet-talked everyone into joining the competition. There were no teachers involved, little sports gear, no school time practice and no coach… Me? I was so sick with asthma until I was 12 that I never got the ...