Monday, January 6, 2014

Manly Words Day 6

So, if you're wondering why I missed day 5...

I didn't.


I mean... I didn't write on here, but that's because I don't need to share day 5 with you. Day 5 was a challenge to write a letter to one you love. 


So it's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

That, and I'm not even done writing it yet.

But Day 6 is a good one to share. Day six is to share a a quote from a man I admire, then share how it affects me and write about how I try and model my life around it, and if it reflects the kind of man I'm trying to be.

Well shoot. I definitely con't think of one. But I can't think of several. I hate the internet's love for Chuck Norris. Van Damme kind of has that following now too.... I mean, doing splits between semis is a pretty big deal. But when it comes to celebrities, there is only one guy I think that fits the "manly" bill. This guy is 84 and still living with grit in his teeth. A man who can stare down the coward in you through grizzly squinted eyes. A gravely voice that demands respect and makes you feel like you're a girl scout. His favorite quote of my is this:

"I've never met a genius. A genius to me is someone who does well at something he hates. Anybody can do well at something he loves - it's just a question of finding the subject."

Clint Eastwood put it in a way that I couldn't. I say: "Do what you love, because you love what you do."

This is something I want to fashion my life after. I want for the rest of my life, that what I'm doing, and where I'm doing it is because I WANT to. Not because I need to. I want to love what I do, so I'm going to shoot for that. There's going to be plenty of obstacles in the way and I'm ready for them. I'm dealing with them, but I know I'll get there.

My second quote comes from someone I've never seen on TV or movies, but I've read a good deal about. I wish I could bring him back to life. But we can remember him by participating in what he loved: Supporting your local boy scouts and encourage your son(s) to be one, visit and donate to your local State and Nation Parks and enjoy them. Love the wilderness and immerse yourself in it. It's been nearly a hundred years since this man died but his service to our country and his stature as a man is evident in what he said here:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."


Teddy Roosevelt was a man I'll always admire. His quote about the "Man in the Arena" speaks an echo of something my dad has always taught me: the importance of self-accountability. In every instance of my life I try to remember this and even though I'm terrible about it, I try and remember that no matter what happens, I'm the only one that knows what it was like, what the cost was, where I struggled.

Everyone else can only offer sympathy. In truth, one who may have experienced the similar situation may offer their form of empathy, but no empathy is perfect comfort for a man in strife. In times of failure or victory only YOU know the effort you made.  It doesn't matter if others judge that you didn't try, or that you didn't put forth your best effort because only you know the strength it took. 

It matters not the opinions of others because opinions don't build you, they only attack you spirits if you let them.

The next is from one of my favorite authors. Who lived his whole career going by a name that he received from the boats he road in the older years of America, even to the point where most don't even know his birth-given name, Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He gave us the great stories that we learn in school and love to read there after. Huck and Tom makes us laugh and grip our seats page after page with their adventures. As lively as his characters were, his quote fits nicely in theme of each of them:

"The fear of death follows from a fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."

Mark Twain lived that way and I hope to as well. A quote like that is very much the reason why two wheeled gear heads ride everyday. I should just start using this as when people ask why I ride when it's so dangerous.... That's part of the love of riding. What fun is a life with no risk?

I don't have a super exciting life lately but I'm changing that, working around having 2 little boys at home. But I'm still not afraid of dying. I don't remember ever being afraid of it.

Have you ever thought about if you're afraid to die? If you are, why are you? It's interesting to think about when you do.

I wish I could meet these guys. But their lives and stories are enough to inspire. Sure, they may not be completely the men I'd like to emulate because I don't drink or smoke. I also don't curse (even though I slip here and there. I try)

But the work ethic, courage, honor, fidelity. Those things are the things I want to emulate and these guys were chock full of it.

I guess more than anything I'd like to live a life where 100 years from now, maybe someone would use something I said and want to be better because of it. Hopeful wishing I guess but I'd like to think that my short time in this life will be of benefit to others.

"And that's all I have to say about that"
-Forest Gump



 





1 comment:

  1. Some really good thoughts. Personal accountability and integrity - aka character - DOES count despite what some politicians say. It is one of the few things of which we can truly take ownership because it is based upon our will.

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