Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast, where we provide one lesson every single day to help you with your most important job, being a parent.

I'm Ryan Holiday, and I draw these lessons from ancient philosophy, modern psychology, practical wisdom, and insights from

parents just like you all over the world. Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

Tell them before it's too late. It's one of the most beautiful and haunting songs ever recorded.

The version written and recorded by Sting is pretty good,

but the Johnny Cash version, it's like he was meant to put that track down.

The song is, I hung my head.

It's the tragic story of a boy who steals his brother's rifle,

and playing cowboy shoots a man riding by. The horror of what he's

done is almost incomprehensible. He thinks it's a dream at first, but unfortunately it's not. As the lyrics go,

the sheriff, he asked me, why had I run? And then it come to me just what I had done. And all for no

reason, just one piece of lead.

I hung my head. I hung my head. That refrain, I hung my head. It repeats through the song

up until the boy is executed for his crime. And it's worth listening to today, not just because

guns are no plaything, but because it captures the

stakes of this parenting thing we're doing. An accident, a mistake, no matter the intention, no matter how

sweet the child or loving the parent, can irrevocably change a life. A kid playing with a gun,

a father who leaves the pool gate open, a mother who foregoes the car seat because it's a

short trip, a teenager taking risks with their friends. In an instant, everything can be blown

apart, one choice, one bad call, one shortcut, and all you'll be able to do after, hang your head,

hang your head. To say this is not to scare you. It's not to scare your kids, but it's to

remind you of the stakes. Life is not a dream. There are no do-overs. What's done cannot be undone,

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