Under Pressure: Dealing With Stress and Still Showing Up
“Strength isn’t the absence of stress.
It’s the ability to carry it — and still stand.”
💬 The Weight I Was Carrying Quietly
I want to be honest here — there was a period where stress was sitting on me every single day.
Not loud stress.
Not dramatic stress.
The quiet kind.
Work pressure.
Being a single dad.
Trying to build WarDad with purpose.
Wanting to train, eat right, stay disciplined.
Wanting to be present, calm, strong — all at once.
From the outside, I was showing up.
Inside, I was tight-chested, overthinking, and running on empty.
I didn’t feel weak — I felt responsible.
And that responsibility is heavy when you don’t put it down anywhere.
🧠 Stress Isn’t Weakness — It’s Load
If you’re stressed, it doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It means you care deeply about what you’re building.
Men carry stress because they carry:
- families
- expectations
- outcomes
- futures
Our ancestors carried stress too — but theirs was survival.
Ours is responsibility.
The danger isn’t stress itself.
The danger is holding it all inside, convincing yourself you’re meant to carry everything alone.
🔥 How I Learned to Still Show Up
There were days where I felt stretched thin from the moment I woke up.
I wasn’t at my best — but I still showed up.
Some days, showing up looked like:
- training hard
- writing clearly
- leading with confidence
Other days, it looked like:
- slowing down
- choosing patience with my son
- skipping intensity and choosing consistency
- doing fewer things — but doing them well
That’s when I learned something important:
Showing up doesn’t mean being unstoppable.
It means being present, even under pressure.
Both versions of effort count.
🛡️ The Missing Piece: A Small Brotherhood
One of the biggest shifts for me was realising this:
A man doesn’t need a crowd —
he needs a few solid men who know him.
Not people to complain to.
Not people to posture for.
But brothers who understand the weight without needing it explained.
Even one or two men you can say:
“I’m under pressure right now.”
That alone lightens the load.
Your ancestors survived in tribes for a reason.
Men were never meant to carry everything solo.
A small brotherhood provides:
- perspective when your mind is crowded
- accountability when discipline slips
- grounding when stress starts lying to you
You don’t need to bleed everywhere.
You just need somewhere safe to set the shield down.
🛠️ The WarDad Way to Manage Stress
Here’s what actually helped me:
1️ Move your body
Stress lives in the nervous system. Movement clears it.
2️ Control your breath
Slow breathing tells your body: we’re not in danger.
3️ Lower the standard — temporarily
Not forever. Just enough to recover.
4️ Choose one win
One task done right beats ten half-done.
5️ Stay connected
One honest conversation can stop a spiral.
“A man who stays steady under pressure becomes the one others trust.”
👊 If You’re Reading This Under Load
If you’re stressed, tired, and still showing up — hear this:
You don’t need to be harder on yourself.
You need to be steadier.
Your kids don’t need a perfect man.
They need a reliable one.
Your home doesn’t need intensity.
It needs calm leadership.
And you don’t need to escape stress —
you need to lead yourself through it.
⚔️ Take Action Today
- Move your body for 10 minutes
- Take 5 slow breaths before reacting
- Reach out to one brother you trust
- Pick one thing to do well today
Say it out loud:
“I can carry this — and I will still show up.”
💬 From Ash — Founder of WarDad
Stress didn’t mean I was failing.
It meant I was building something that mattered.
The shift came when I stopped trying to be unbreakable
and started being intentional.
I didn’t need to drop the load —
I just needed to carry it smarter, and not alone.
That’s strength.
⚔️ The WarDad Way
Carry the load.
Stand steady.
Show up — even under pressure.
By Ash Sarracossa