David Hurley

What We Tolerate Quietly Becomes Our Standard

Shifting to the individual level, walking past a low standard often erodes self-respect. Accepting chronic lateness from others, letting a partner dismiss your feelings, or repeatedly underpricing your work can teach you—subtly but persistently—that your time and needs are negotiable. A common anecdote illustrates this: someone says yes to “one more” unpaid task to be helpful, then finds it becomes an expectation. The moment wasn’t dramatic, but the pattern it created was. Hurley’s line highlights how boundaries are maintained not by what we believe, but by what we refuse to normalize. [...]