The Stories We Wait to Tell Until the Coast Is Clear
One thing I've noticed about people is this...
We all have stories.
But we don't all tell them.
Most of us wait until the coast is clear.
We wait until the struggle is over.
Until the business is stable.
Until the relationship is healthy again.
Until the finances recover.
Until we know how the story ends.
Some of that is wisdom.
Some of it is fear.
We tell ourselves we're protecting other people.
But sometimes...
We're really protecting ourselves.
We don't want people to see us struggling.
We don't want to look uncertain.
We don't want to admit we're carrying something heavy.
So we carry it quietly.
Months later...
Sometimes years later...
We tell people we had to go through it alone.
But sometimes we weren't actually alone.
Sometimes we just never told anyone what we were carrying.
One of the things I hope people feel when they sit down with us on Behind the X's & O's isn't pressure to have a perfect ending.
I hope they feel free to tell the truth.
Not every detail.
Not every wound.
But the truth.
Because the truth is where connection begins.
The stories that encourage me the most aren't the ones where everything went according to plan.
They're the ones where someone says,
"Here's what I was carrying..."
"...and here's how I kept going."
The longer we build this business, the more stories I hear, the more I realize people don't connect with perfection.
They connect with honesty.
Don't wait until the coast is clear before you let someone know where you are.
Someone may not be able to finish the chapter for you...
But they may be able to walk through it with you.
— Ruben Escalona
Red Alpha Custom Prints
What Healthy Actually Looks Like
Healthy people understand the difference between wisdom and isolation. You don't have to tell everyone everything, but you also don't have to carry every chapter alone. The right conversation, with the right person, at the right time, can become part of the healing instead of something you only talk about after it's over.
Sometimes the chapter you're still living isn't a reason to stay silent. It may be the very chapter that reminds someone else they don't have to walk alone.