Last Saturday, it was about 6:38 in the morning and we were in the middle of our TRAIN HARD Men's Club workout, just like we are every week. My phone was connected to the speaker, so everyone heard when it rang.
I looked down and saw it was Ava calling.
She recently started working at the coffee shop that our Men's Club heads to after the workout, which has been pretty cool. But getting a call from her eight minutes after her shift started was a little unusual.
I answered, and she immediately said, "Dad, I need your help."
Knowing she wasn't hurt or in danger, hearing those words had me grinning ear to ear. At 15 years old, that phrase doesn't come around nearly as often as it used to.
Turns out the employee who was supposed to help open the shop never showed up, and Ava was trying to get everything ready on her own. The timing wasn't ideal because our workout was ending in just a few minutes, and she knew there were about 100 guys headed her way for coffee as soon as we wrapped up.
The issue was that she couldn't get one of the large coffee canisters open and needed the drip coffee ready before the rush hit.
So I handed the workout off to someone else and ran over to help her out.
In her defense, that thing was locked on there pretty good.
A few minutes later, the canister was open, the coffee was brewing, and I headed back to finish the workout before joining the crew for coffee.
The whole thing probably took less than five minutes.
But the fact that my daughter called and asked for help, and that I was able to provide it, was the best part of my day.
As parents, those opportunities don't always come when it's convenient. They don't show up on a calendar or give you advance notice.
They just happen. And when they do, I want to be ready.
Ready physically.
Ready mentally.
Ready to step in when the people I care about need something from me.
A big reason why I TRAIN HARD is because life has a funny way of asking things from us when we least expect it.
Those moments usually aren't life-changing or some big act of heroism, but they still matter.
It's helping your kid move into their first apartment.
Lifting luggage into the overhead bin for your wife.
Opening a coffee canister before 100 guys show up looking for caffeine.
In any situation that I hear, "Dad, I need your help," I want to be able to jump in with no hesitation.
The takeaway this week is simple: Prepare now so you're ready later.
You may never know exactly what you're preparing for, but when the opportunity comes to help, serve, protect, or provide, you'll be glad you put in the work beforehand.
Keep training hard,
Jason
