If you’re old enough to remember hearing the phrase below on your black-and-white television, you’re like me and getting a little long in the tooth.

“Your mission, should you choose to accept it . . .”

I know! Whether we’re talking about the television show or the movies, Mission Impossible was a fun ride that had little to do with reality. However, when I was asked recently, “What is your mission?” the real world and fantasy land collided.

Whether we think of it that way or not, each of us has at least one mission in life. Of course, missions vary, and recognizing our mission is often difficult. It can be so difficult we decide our mission is to avoid the mission. However, many do not realize they have or should have a mission.

For instance, as the firstborn in my family, I found myself in an unusual situation. I would not completely understand my predicament for decades, and then only when I messed up my life so badly that I needed a shrink.

My father survived World War II, physically at least, and returned home wanting a daughter. Instead, he got me, and I was anything but the baby he wanted. My birth started a decades-long tension between us and the rest of the family in some ways. It also set me on a mission, though I did not recognize it until I had the help I mentioned above.

My mission was to prove myself to the man who was supposed to love, teach, and set an example for me. And, teach me he did. He taught me to be just like him and then became upset when I was. The details are unimportant today, but everything became clear in my senior year of high school.

That was when a family crisis led to a confrontation, resulting in him making it clear where I stood in his mind. On a late-night drive with my little brother, Dad looked me squarely in the eye and said, “Eric, I respect you and who you have become. However, I will never love you.”

He told me he and my brother were leaving a few weeks later. Dad’s current girlfriend, my future stepmother, was going with them. On the other hand, I was responsible for staying with Mom and caring for her.

My mission then became to be a better man than my dad and help Mom move on with her life. I did that, and I set goals for myself, achieving many of them. Things he’d only talked about, I did. However, it was a long and difficult road with many disappointments.

There were some triumphs, though. One was professional. One was spiritual. Through those, I found my new mission: helping others who faced challenges like mine. Yes, the kid who was not worthy of his father’s love and repeated many of his father’s mistakes became a mentor to many who needed to know someone could survive such trials.

Few things are more fulfilling and heartwarming than knowing you have two wonderful daughters who love you and a soulmate with whom you can share them and your life. However, having someone reach out to you from the past and thank you for what you helped them conquer or achieve comes close.

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