Modern Man

How old were you, when you became a man? Almost all males will answer that with, 13 to 18 years old. Men are deluded.

Have we all heard of the “Manchild”? It’s the 20, 30 somethings. College degree. Cubicle job. Still living with room mates, or worse, with the parents.

Still living much the way males did while in high school. Responsible enough to pay most of your bills. Your main interest is still parties, bar hopping and hooking up.

For Modern Men, I believe becoming a man takes a bit longer. There is so much more to becoming a man than shaving and a day job.

A Modern Man needs to know how to treat people. This is a hard one to learn. We all think that we’re special. We want everyone around us, to treat us as if we’re special. The problem, is that we don’t treat others as if they are special too.

I’m special, treat me as such. It’s all about me.

Wouldn’t that be nice. Except things don’t really work that way. Other human beings are involved in our lives. It’s not all about me. It’s about them too.

Some of us get that early on. Others never get it. I admit that I was late to learn this lesson. I was thirty one. Married, good job, big plans. I thought I knew everything.

Then one day, things fell apart. Traveling the paved highway to hell, driving my new car, “Good Intentions” by Moron Motors.

My only concern was protecting myself. Saving face. I gave no thought to those that would be affected by my actions. People I would never have imagined, could have been affected. But they were. Some of them were treated very poorly and I was around for much of the emotional fall out. It wasn’t pretty.

It was about a year later that I realized what all I had done. All in the blink of an eye. One moment of selfishness, hurt people for years to come.

What I learned from all of this, is that we have to slow down enough to consider the big picture. Practically everything we do influences those around us. Things we say and do, impact people, neighborhoods, countries, the planet…

Most of us never think about things like that. I think a Modern Man has to be able to see these things and realize that his choices have power. Good and bad.

Think about how different the world would or could be if we thought about others first.

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