Friday, May 10, 2024
Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
When we see men overdoing their masculinity, we can assume that they…are scared that they aren't being manly enough.
-- Frank Pittman
Masculinity is a wonderful thing. It is part of a man’s inner feeling of self-esteem, and it has a wide scope. It's the feeling that we can protect and provide for ourselves, our family, and our loved ones; that we are tough when we need to be tough, standing up to difficult challenges; that we are true to our word, loving, and honorable.
As young boys, we had boyish ideas about masculinity. Boys don't know manhood until they are there. And some of us didn't have adult men we were close to; we couldn't know intimately what grown men were like. So we reached manhood almost as outsiders, still trying to fulfill our boyish ideas. We worked extra hard to fulfill the simple stereotypes of manhood. That's why we sometimes exaggerated our behavior like perpetual adolescents, always anxious about whether our masculinity was measuring up.
We don't need to be anxious about our masculinity. When we are comfortable that we are man enough, that we have arrived, there is no need to prove anything.
Today, I value my masculinity and accept myself as a good man, just as I am.
Hazelden Foundation
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