Today as I’m picking up my girls from school my youngest; who is 9, hands me a bookmark. The book mark and a punch if confetti. The bookmark discusses what is coming for a test tomorrow and the magic of this confetti that helps become restful , reduce stress, and be ready cone the morning to do your best. Now, generally I would go off into a banter on schools standardized everything cresting an anxiety rich environment for the young…. However, true as that is in our school systems, the opportunity of building on a way to practice reducing school based anxiety, while creating a fun environment at age 9 is an opportunity perhaps they did not exist when I was a kid. Being intentional on how to educate kids and students on curriculum as well as adding tools to manage stress and anxiety is something I admire here. Here we are learning these tools as adults, after years of just doing it as we are told or, suppressing feelings with multiple substances, and kids in the 3rd grade may actually develop better self managing behaviors than I could ever dream of.

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The last few weeks have been a grind. And I've loved every minute of it. Jumping into a new company, helping lead a rebrand, building systems and processes from scratch, getting social media dialed in and ready to launch. That's not light work. There were late nights, decisions without clear answers, and plenty of moments where I was figuring it out as I went. But somewhere in the middle of all of it I noticed something. I wasn't dreading any of it. Most of us have spent time grinding on things that felt hollow. You put in the hours, you do the work, but something's off. You can't name it but it's there. That low-grade drain that follows you home and sits with you at the dinner table. This was different. Because I believe in what I'm building. And when that's true, hard work stops feeling like punishment. It still costs you. Time, energy, mental bandwidth. But it gives something back. That's the difference. A lot of us have forgotten what that feels like. Or we stopped expecting it. We told ourselves work is just work, that fulfillment is for weekends or retirement or some future version of life we'll get to eventually. We got comfortable being numb. We settled, and we called it being realistic. That's not realistic. That's giving up with better vocabulary. You don't need some massive life overhaul to find it again either. It can start with something small. Learning a new skill. Picking up a book that actually challenges you. Starting the thing you've been putting off for six months. The feeling is still available to you. Most men just stopped going after it. Stop tolerating a life you wouldn't brag about. The people you love are watching you. Your kids, your partner, the men around you. They're not just watching what you do. They're deciding, based on you, what a man's life is supposed to look like. What's possible. What's acceptable. Make it worth watching. This life doesn't wait. Go all in on something real.

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Just a few examples... Courage is leaning in when you feel like pulling back. Courage is standing firm when process is called to question. Courage is mentoring someone struggling while others may be laughing/mocking. Courage may look like strength - it's actually more closely related to a conviction of what is right and an enduring resolve in holding a standard. It doesn't always roar like a lion but sometimes it has to. What an incredible experience it is to have someone lean into our world and offer help. Has this happened for you? I'm curious, what does courageous leading looks like for you in your current and past circumstances?