The past weeks I have found myself getting agitated with life. Waiting for job offers, worrying about bills, finding time to take care of myself, physically beaten down wearing heavy boots/snow pants/layered jackets that when I get a chance to take my gear off I feel 40 pounds lighter (polar vortex weather). While out trying to make cash, I see the faces of others. Publicly, a lot of people don't know our struggles as men (men fighting for their kids especially), but I also don't know their battles. Making a simple compliment for a guy who has a fresh haircut, asking about their jacket or shoes because it looks nice. It occured to me seeing their smile and a simple "thanks bro!" means that may be the only compliment they get for the week. I started bringing more positivity to other guys, including my own son. The results are astounding! Chatting with brothers I've never met before, hearing their story for a quick 3 minutes, and everybody walking away feeling better as we tackle our individual challenges. Be kind to yourself and others, except for those 20 year olds who cut you off in traffic and flip the bird....let them swim in their own ocean by thenselves😂

After complete exhaustion starting yesterday, regaining some energy. Today is a kid day for me! Looking forward to spending quality time with my kids. Will be more productive tonight after drop off.

Your mind is a crime scene. It is cluttered with stress. It is filled with unfinished tasks. It is noisy with the opinions of people who do not matter. If you do not clear this mess, you will break. Most men treat their brains like a storage unit. They stuff every worry and fear inside until the door bursts open. That is when you snap at your wife. That is when you yell at your kids. You think you are keeping it together. You are not. You are leaking. Journaling is not for little girls with crushes. It is for warriors who need to clean their weapons. General Patton kept a journal. Marcus Aurelius kept a journal. They did not write to complain. They wrote to strategize. You need to dump the noise out of your head and onto paper. Once it is written down, it cannot hurt you. It becomes an object you can manage. Stop carrying the weight of the world in your skull. Put it on the page. The Drill: 1. Buy a cheap notebook today. Do not overthink it. 2. Open it tonight before bed. 3. Write one full page of everything bothering you. Do not stop until the page is full.

Reflecting (quality for today) on our conversations of who do you put the oxygen mask on first, but also trying to make the best of the day because we can be tired tomorrow, last night I hit my empty on my fuel. What that tells me is that I have had the ongoing drive, but today I'm taking care of myself and recharging myself. Simple chores of cleaning/laundry/dishes, making sure I get nutrients, and taking time to touch base with friends to see how they are doing. I hyper focused on cash flow, that other areas of my pillars became neglected. Pushing ourselves to be better is the big goal, but sometimes we need to put that oxygen on ourselves first so we can help others around us later. Today I am reflective, resilient (as yesterday didn't go as planned), and still driven to setup myself up for next week and refuel my tank with nutrients physically and taking that moment to plan where/who I want to be next week. Go rock it brothers!! I have company coming over tonight so I'll be back Sunday.

Had a fantastic day with my kids! Went out and bought a tablet so my son and I can play Pokemon together, he helped me prep some ribs, and my dad came into town so we opened presents. You can feel the warmth and joy from my kids of spending quality time and for them to feel seen.