Measure of a Man

So I am reading a book by Richard E. Simmons III called “The True Measure of a Man:  How Perceptions of Success, Achievement & Recognition Fail Men in Difficult Times.

The book got me to thinking how I personally describe Success, you see most men describe success as having a lot of money, a beautiful wife, a nice car and house, all of these thing are great, but to me, if you are not happy and challenging yourself then it really means nothing.  This book challenging men to be the best they can be.

Men should be strong, independent, thoughtful, caring, and willing to stand for their beliefs. My dad died when I was 4 years old, but my mother made sure I had plenty of positive male role models in my life.  And these are the characteristics I think of when I think of my uncles. It was my Uncle Johnny who use to always say to me be a man and take responsibility for your actions, my Uncle George used to tell me “Boy you have to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” My Uncle Thomas use to say “You don’t judge a man by what he does when he is up, you judge him by what he does when he is down.”  All I have come to fine, are sound advice. Too many of our young people are walking around thinking that they are men. The example can be seen every day:   

1.     Making babies and not taking care of them – When I was growing up Men never even thought about leaving the women they got pregnant.

2.     Killing each other – yes we had agreements even fight but that is as far as it went.

The young men have no Idea what it takes to be a man, it is up to the older generation to teach the younger what it takes, and our failure is their failure.