Friends of my two sons tell them now and then what a cool father they have. They refer to me that way because in their eyes I can do a lot and am flexible. I like that they say that! Of course, it wasn’t always so. When I was quite young, I went to sea, because the freedom of it attracted me. But structured life on a ship also appealed to me, with its relative peace and balance, because I was quite stress sensitive at the time. I had no idea about managing stress. From an early age on, I used – and that I can now recognize – all sorts of strategies in order to protect my own world. I think a lot of people are familiar with this way of living, especially those who can sense how others are feeling, even when the others only show their sunny side. Once at sea, in that man’s world, the rest of the world opened up some more for me.
