The Standard 3.31.26

Last night Shelby was in a low mood.

She wasn't being crazy... she didn't pick a fight... just quiet and a little off. Said she didn't feel connected to me.

And instead of just being there for her...

I went quiet and called it a night.

I laid there telling myself I had done everything right. I was home. I was off my phone. I swam with the boys. We went on a walk. I showed up all day...

But when she needed me to just sit with her and ask what was going on...

I made it about me…

This morning I read about the Last Supper... it’s Easter week and after last night, this passage hit different. Jesus is at the table with his guys.

He ALREADY knows Judas is about to betray him. He knows the weight, pressure and pain of what is coming for him in the next few hours...

And he gets up and washes their feet.

HE WAS NOT REACTING TO THEM... He was being the standard of who HE WAS.

His standard was not a response to them...

It was just HIM being HIM.

That is what I missed last night. My wife wasn't looking for me to fix anything or have the right answer... she just wanted me to be there. To ask. To connect.

Instead I REACTED.

My fitness coach got after me this week too. I have been hitting about 90 percent... close enough to feel okay about it. And he looked at my numbers and basically said... are you serious about this or not?

It stung. Because I knew the answer.

90 percent is not the standard. It is just a comfortable place to hide.

The only person I can control is me.

Not anyones mood. Not the energy in the room. Not whether anyone around me is showing up the way I want them to.

Just me.

The husband my wife deserves. The father my kids are watching. The man my goals require.

That man shows up NO MATTER WHAT.

The Daily Gain: Find one moment today where the easy move is to check out or pull back... and just serve instead. The people closest to you are the ones who need your standard the most.

Stay in the fire and never stop progressing. — Braven Grant