I went over this in a previous article, but manliness was once a virtue. Actually, it was only 30 or 40 years ago that quotes from great men on manliness started to cease. And, as this virtue is being shoved under the rug by a growing sensitivity in society, we need it more than ever.
It’s nice to be kind and good, actually it’s necessary. It’s also necessary, however, to be gritty and tough. One cannot thrive without the other so it’s time to bring manliness back into our culture so the goodness we pride ourselves on can thrive.
We’re teaching goodness and kindness and softness without teaching toughness. It’s toughness and grit that make those other attributes valid. It’s grit that enables us to put them to use.
The soft man, the caring man, who possesses no toughness, no ability to stand and fight for the goodness he believes is rendered useless.
Peace is won. It can be created and earned and it can exist if the environment is perfect for it, but where evil exists, peace must be won and defended and evil defeated.
To wish peace is to feed evil.
If you’ve ever been bullied, you’ve experienced this. You either fought back and won respect and peace, or you kept taking the beatings and telling and running and are still haunted to this day. (Read This: Stand and Fight)
What decisions can you make right now to change your life for the better?
Take out a pen and a pad, and get to work. What spending decisions can you make? What saving decisions can you make right now to make your life better? What routine should you follow? What books should you read?
I’m doing this exercise today, would love to get some insight from you guys as well.
If you have food and water and a roof over your head, along with a couple of books and at least one good relationship, you need nothing.
Cars exist to get you from point a to point b, they are not a measure of the man you are. The house you live in should keep you from getting wet when it rains or freezing to death when it’s cold. Besides that, you shouldn’t be comparing your house to someone else’s. There’s no point.
Aspire for more, of course, but more meaning. Aspire to make more money, but as a reward for being good at something, not for the sake of more money.
You can be a soft and caring man. That is a very good thing. You will, however, depend on grittier men to help you do what good you want to give the world. (Read This: How To Be A Man of True Grit)
Grit is as importance as goodness, and vice versa. They’re dependent on one another for good people to win and goodness to thrive.
The only thing that you deserve in life is the right to work your ass off. Hard work and death should be the two things promised in life, yet so few see hard work as a right, and more of a curse.
We’re getting soft.
Who you are right now must be founded on reality. If you suck at something, you must accept that you suck at it so you can work on improving.
Who you “identify” as shouldn’t be a completely subjective thing. Confidence that’s founded on reality is far more powerful than delusional arrogance.
I might suck at writing, but I like it, so I’m going to work on getting better at it. If I thought I was God’s gift to the pen, I’d be stuck where I began, unable to improve because my own ignorant arrogance is in the way.
You don’t see goodness taught much anymore. The values and virtues that created our culture are falling by the wayside. Niceness has taken its place.
Niceness doesn’t keep people free to practice their faith or follow their dreams. It doesn’t keep people safe or free to live the lives they want to live.
More Man Up Monday: Work Hard, And Do it Every Day
