Proverbs 31 revisted

Proverbs 31 talks about what a good wife should be like - gentlemen, it is like a shopping list of qualities to look for when picking a good one.

I came across this article and found it very insightful. I hope you enjoy reading about the husband of a good wife.

Stan Manly Challenge #5

This Stan Manly Challenge challenge involves finances.

Pick one thing this month that you splurge on. Is it beer? Cigarettes? Coffee? 

Try to give it up for the rest of the month and take the money that you would have spent on that and treat your wife, girlfriend, kids, or a friend who is in a rough spot.

Good luck, gentlemen!

Stan Manly Challenge #4

This Stan Manly Challenge challenge involves cursing.

Begin by picking one "curse" word from your vocabulary. If you use the "f-bomb" more than once a month, that is chosen by default. If you don't choose the one that is the most offensive to others. If not, pick a word you wouldn't want your 3 year old to say. If you don't use any of those words, you either are doing really well or you think it is OK for a 3 year old to have a potty mouth. At any rate pick a word and until the end of the month, anytime you use that word you have to do 20 push-ups. By the end of the month, you will either have cleaned up your language, or you will have grown your biceps.

Good luck men!

Yeah, that makes you look really manly: Cursing

Man I tell you what, that !@$*!% ball was coming in so !@%!% fast that I just said #^#%@ @#%$@# and knocked the @#$(@#( out of it.

Listening to some guys talk you hear curse words tossed around like dodgeballs in a grade school. Just look at the phrase above. You probably filled in some of the words in your head as you read it. I just find that cursing doesn't add a lot. Compare that phrase to:

Man I tell you what, that ball was coming in so fast that I just said "Here Goes" and knocked the stuffing out of it.

The two phrases tell the same story, but the first phrase would garner a PG-13 rating, while the second was G.

Why those added adjectives? I mean, does it add to the sentence?

 Michael Jordan was the best basketball player ever.

VS

Michael "His Airness" Jordan undoubtedly, yet notably was the single most talented and skilled and just the best ever in the history of mankind in the whole wide world basketball player who ever played the game of basketball since it was invented and he started playing.

 Once again, two phrases that mean the same thing, but one says it much more concisely. 

Cursing doesn't make you sound classy or sophisticated. Think about this, when is the last time you heard a billionaire stand up in front of a crowded banquet hall and say: "We've had a #$@#% awesome @##$% @#$@ year." Never? When is the last time you saw an alcoholic who can hold a job use the same phrase with "horrible" substituted for "awesome"? You might have actually heard that one.

Would you like to hear your heart surgeon say "Today, we are going to take your old heart out of your chest and put in a new one." or "Today, we are going to take that $@#% old heart out of your #$%#$ chest and put in a @#$@# new one."?

At the very least, men should watch their language around women and children. There are actually a number of states and cities that have laws on the books that say cursing in front of a woman or child or preacher is punishable by a fine, usually about $100. I can't believe the amount of times in a store, parking lot, or at an event I hear curse words whizzing by my children as we walk past a group, with me just praying that one of them doesn't find my daughter's sensitive young ears. The last think I want to be doing is explaining to a 3 year old what the "f-word" means.

So be a real man and think before you talk. Try to sound more sophisticated and see where it gets you. Who knows, maybe leaving out a few extra words in your phrases will make you sound smarter and get you a promotion - or at least a better reputation.

 

Man up

Deep down in every man there is a part of him that just doesn't want to be to blame.
Things like "I was late because of ..." or even "I was day dreaming during that meeting because of ..." or maybe "I had to look at that woman because of...". Sometimes there are legitimate excuses - but don't make excuses for everything.

If your car stalls on the way to a meeting then it is OK to be late. But if you were late because you were stuck in the drive through waiting for that McGrease breakfast sandwich, well that is your fault.

If your project at work is late because the client changed 5 major details two days before deadline, that is acceptable. If it is late because you didn't start until two days before the deadline - YOUR FAULT.

One of the rules of being a man is taking the responsibility for your actions.

So Man Up and own your actions - true men accept responsibility.

Stan Manly Challenge #3

This Stan Manly Challenge challenge is aimed at married men. Try to compliment your wife on one thing for three straight days. Not necessarily the same thing, but "I love the way your eyes look when you wear that" or "Thank you for having a hot supper ready for me, you are so considerate" or my personal favorite, "A man as manly as me is lucky to have a woman as womanly as you."

Good luck and post any stories you have.

50 things every man should be able to do

Came across this very well done article on 50 things every man should know (or learn) how to do. I may put together my own list in the future, but this is a good start.