09/20/2023
𝙏𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 9 𝙩𝙤 5, 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮.
Look, I understand the pressure that you feel every day, doing your best to provide, while fighting to be balanced and present at home.
You aim to be a good man, a loving husband, and a present father, and make the money that you need so that you can provide your family the life that you never had.
All while trying to keep your thoughts together…keep the demons at bay.
Doing his best to hide his emotions from the ones who love him, or from the ones who will judge him.
Because either way…. it's our burden to carry.
This is to the dad out there who's trying to look like they have it all together in the eyes of their children.
To show their children what a father looks like, what a man looks like, and what commitment and love look like.
There was a time in my life when I didn't have that figure to look up to, and because of that, it forced me to imagine what it would be like.
I had to create that figure out of short and fragmented images that I could scrap from the world that seemed to pass me by.
So who did I build?
Someone who worked hard…
Someone who would not quit…
Someone who would was not afraid to ask for help…
I built the person that I wish I had with me but never had the opportunity to meet.
From someone who now has a family of his own, I can tell you that it's not about the intentions that we set or plans that we make that our loved ones truly care about.
It’s simply about showing up…actually being present and available.
No one cares about the dreams you have, they want their father to be present…
No one cares about how much money there is if Dad isn't available to celebrate life's daily wins…
And the same goes for our wives.
Safety and security is just an empty shell if you are not there to fill the void.
We often feel that the world is on our shoulders, but that is because the strong are meant to carry the load for the ones around us.
It feels heavy because you care…
And to us, there might not ever be “enough”....there might always feel like there is more to be done.
More work…
More planning…
More action…
But then ask yourself….would life be worth it if it were all taken away?
Strive on.
-Zach