At Manlihood.com our mission is to educate, equip and entertain men in an engaging way. Fridays, we focus a bit on the entertainment, offering #manlymusicfriday – where we feature songs from a variety of genres that reflect the values of true masculinity. Want more ManlyMusic? Check out our playlist on Spotify!
Josh Hatcher has published a new book on Amazon! It’s a book of “manly” poems. You should definitely check it out!
While you’re there, make sure you snag these books too!
We’ve long said that March comes in and goes out inversely like a Lion or a Lamb. The thought of being one or the other may be a bit frightening for men. Especially in a culture that no longer appreciates the fierce and bold virtues that once marked manhood.
Lambs are weak. Lions are strong.
As we explore this concept, I will admittedly tell you, most of the time, I think we should err on the side of the lion. I think that we should strive to be brave, and fierce. We should strive to lead the pride, rather than to frolic in the fields, and cower at the thought of wolves.
With that said, I think that even the fiercest and strongest war-like man has to know that there’s a part of him that has to fall in line. A part of him that must be subdued and soft.
A hardened soldier can indeed have tea with his daughter, and can indeed love a woman gently, and can indeed hold back the power and rage in order to communicate with his people diplomatically. Perhaps these qualities aren’t really “lamb-like” after all – but they are certainly not wild.
“For after years of living in a cage, a lion no longer even believes it is a lion . . . and a man no longer believes he is a man.”
― John Eldredge, Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul
I don’t want to see men tamed. I think it’s a dangerous thing to take a lion and to train him to be a house-cat. When I talk about finding balance, I don’t mean that men should be tamed. I think they should be TEMPERED. Men, finding balance does not mean that you are abandoning your lionhood in order to be a lamb.
When I was a child, my dad and I loved to wrestle. His strength was and still is baffling. I’ve watched him lift things no man should lift. I’ve felt the strength in his grip. As we would wrestle, he’d show me that strength, but it was always measured and held back. I always knew that this man had the power to crush my little skull with his bare hands, and the fact that he didn’t showed me more about his strength than anything. He was wild like a lion, but he was tempered.
As we explore what it means to be a lion, and what we can learn from the lamb – let’s strive to be balanced. Let’s strive to be men who embrace the fullness and wildness that is in us, but we must keep it tempered and in check, because that is what a good man is. Each use of our strength and wildness is carefully measured and used in ways that make those around us better, and keeps them safe.
Martin Luther lived at a time when having an opinion different than that of the catholic church could cost you your head.
After observing corruption and hypocrisy, He formed opinions about God and the Bible that flew in the face of the religious elite of his day.
So he wrote them down, and then literally NAILED THEM TO THE DOOR of the catholic church.
That brave act of defiance completely and in many ways changed the world. And even though the catholic church rejected Luther’s new teachings, many of his challenges led the church to clean up and reform many of its practices.
According to Wikipedia
Martin Luther (/ˈluːθər/;[1] German: [ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈlʊtɐ] ( listen); 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk[2] and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation.
Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God’s punishment for sin could be purchased with money, proposing an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517. His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.
Luther taught that salvation and, subsequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds but are received only as the free gift of God’s grace through the believer’s faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority and office of the Pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God[3] and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood.[4]Those who identify with these, and all of Luther’s wider teachings, are called Lutherans, though Luther insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ.
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular (instead of Latin) made it more accessible to the laity, an event that had a tremendous impact on both the church and German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation,[5] and influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible.[6] His hymns influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches.[7] His marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant clergy to marry.[8]
Check out these quotes from Martin Luther:
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”
“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.”
“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.”
“I know not the way God leads me, but well do I know my Guide.”
“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”
“I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.”
“Be a sinner and sin strongly, but more strongly have faith and rejoice in Christ.”
“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.”
“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”
“If you want to interpret well and confidently, set Christ before you, for He is the man to whom it all applies, every bit of it.”
“The Gospel cannot be truly preached without offense and tumult.”
“To find Christ in such poverty, and what his swaddling clothes and manger signify, are explained … that his poverty teaches how we should find him in our neighbors, the lowliest and the most needy; and his swaddling clothes are the holy Scriptures; that in actual life we should incline to the needy; and in our studies and contemplative life only to the Scriptures; in order that Christ alone may become the man of both lives and that he may everywhere stand before us.”
“A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone.”
Every Monday At Manlihood.com – we celebrate men of courage, valor, creativity, innovation, and honor. We celebrate men who have accomplished great things, that have set good examples, and then have made the world a better place. This is #mancrushmonday
Today’s ManCrushMonday is truly an American hero.
I’m not entirely sure why this great country became so corrupted by racism. I’m not sure why men and women were not treated with the respect and dignity that we all deserve.
I’m not sure why it still happens today, and I’m not sure how to make it all go away.
But what I can tell you is that Martin Luther King, Jr. built a legacy that is unrivaled, and all of us today would learn well from the lessons he taught about fighting for equality in a dignified and yet fiery way.
According to Wikipedia:
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr., January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.
King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia (the Albany Movement), and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.
On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled “Beyond Vietnam“.
In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People’s Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities.
King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.
Check out these inspiring quotes from Dr. King.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
“I have decided to stick to love…Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
“Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”
“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
“A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
“No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.”
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Every Monday At Manlihood.com – we celebrate men of courage, valor, creativity, innovation, and honor. We celebrate men who have accomplished great things, that have set good examples, and then have made the world a better place. This is #mancrushmonday
Justin Willoughby is one of my best friends. I hate to overdo my “mancrush” on Justin – but he really is an inspiration to me.
I first met Justin at Wal-mart. He was about 600 pounds at that point. He had already lost almost 200 pounds, but I didn’t know that. I just remember seeing this massive kid struggling to push a shopping cart around the store with an oxygen tank. And I saw him eating a Snickers Bar. My first initial thought was a bit judgmental, “Who is this fat kid, and why is he eating a candy bar?”
(I found out later that he had just spent hours walking around Wal-mart as exercise – and that candy bar was his first in months. It was his reward for his consistent hard work!)
I later met Justin again at church – and by this point, he had lost another 200 pounds. He was still big, but by this point, this young man had literally hacked his way out of a prison of fat.
He continued to work hard to lose the weight, and now he is 600 pounds lighter. He has dedicated his life to helping other people achieve their goals, in weight loss and life.
Check out his website here.
Check out his interview on the TODAY SHOW
Every Monday At Manlihood.com – we celebrate men of courage, valor, creativity, innovation, and honor. We celebrate men who have accomplished great things, that have set good examples, and then have made the world a better place. This is #mancrushmonday
Henry Ford pioneered not only the automotive industry, but the manufacturing industry, and really, the employment industry.
He took risks, broke all the rules with the way things were done, and developed a great product that ultimately changed the world.
He wasn’t the guy that invented the automobile – but he certainly set the standard for how they should be made.
According to Wikipedia:
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production.
Although Ford invented neither the automobile nor the assembly line,[1] he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would profoundly impact the landscape of the 20th Century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. As the owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with “Fordism“: mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put dealerships throughout most of North America and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation and arranged for his family to control the company permanently.
Check out these quotes about business, leadership, and innovation from Henry Ford:
There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: make the best quality goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
Don’t find fault, find a remedy.
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.
The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.
There is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.
A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.
I cannot discover that anyone knows enough to say what is and what is definitely not possible.
A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.
You don’t have to hold a position in order to be a leader.
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
To do more for the world than the world does for you – that is success.
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses.’
You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.
If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.
Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars.
Vision without execution is just hallucination.
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.
Employers only handle the money – it is the customer who pays the wages.
Every Monday At Manlihood.com – we celebrate men of courage, valor, creativity, innovation, and honor. We celebrate men who have accomplished great things, that have set good examples, and then have made the world a better place. This is #mancrushmonday
Pro-wrestler and actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson isn’t just a larger than life entertainer – he’s truly an inspirational man, who works hard to be a man with character and to make life better for the men around him.
Here’s his story according to Wikipedia:
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is a Canadian-American actor, producer, and professional wrestler currently signed to WWE.
Johnson was a college football player for the University of Miami, winning a national championship on the 1991 Miami Hurricanes football team. He later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, and was cut two months into the 1995 season. This led him to become a professional wrestler like his grandfather, Peter Maivia, and his father, Rocky Johnson (from whom he also inherited his Canadian citizenship).[8]
Johnson gained mainstream fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF/E) from 1996 to 2004 as a major figure in the company’s Attitude Era, and was the first third-generation wrestler in the company’s history. He returned to wrestling part-time for WWE from 2011 to 2013 and continues to make sporadic non-wrestling appearances for the company. As of November 2016, Johnson has had 17 championship reigns in WWE, including 10 as a world champion, winning the WWF/E Championship eight times (seventh reign was as WWE Undisputed Champion) and the WCW/World Championship twice. He won the Intercontinental Championship twice and the WWF Tag Team Championship five times. Johnson is the sixth Triple Crown Champion in WWE history, and won the 2000 Royal Rumble. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time.[9]
Johnson’s autobiography The Rock Says…, co-written with Joe Layden, was published in 2000. It debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, spent 20 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and sold 720,000 copies in hardcover alone.[10][11] Johnson’s first leading film role was in The Scorpion King in 2002. For this role, he was paid US $5.5 million, a world record for an actor in his first starring role.[12] He has since appeared in various films, and become known for his ability to reinvigorate film franchises. Perhaps his greatest success in his acting career can be sourced to his role as Luke Hobbs in The Fast and the Furious franchise. He hosted and produced The Hero, a reality competition series; and has since continued to produce TV series and films through his production company Seven Bucks Productions, each of which he also stars in. Forbes listed Dwayne Johnson #25 in the Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities in 2013.[13] He is the world’s highest-paid actor of 2016.[14] Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.[15] In 2015, Muscle & Fitness named Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as their “Man of the Century.”[16]
Check out these amazing motivational quotes from “The Rock”
“All successes begin with Self-Discipline. It starts with you.”
“Don’t be afraid to be ambitious about your goals. Hard work never stops. Neither should your dreams.”
“Grind Hard, Shine Hard.”
“I like to use the hard times of the past to motivate me today.”
“Not only do I think being nice and kind is easy, but being kind, in my opinion is important.”
“One of the most important things you can accomplish is just being yourself.”
“The first step to achieving your goal, is to take a moment to respect your goal. Know what it means to you to achieve it.”
“The wall! Your success is on the other side. Can’t jump over it or go around it. You know what to do.”
“There is no substitute for hardwork. Always be humble and hungry.”
“Wake up determined. Go to bed satisfied.”
“We do today what they won’t, so tomorrow we accomplish what they can’t.”
When life puts you in touch situations, don’t say “Why Me?” Just say “Try Me.”
“When you walk up to opportunities door, don’t knock it… Kick that b!tch in, smile and introduce yourself.” – Dwayne Johnson
“With drive and a bit of talent, you can move mountains.” – Dwayne Johnson
“You don’t need directions, just point yourself to the top and go!” – Dwayne Johnson
“Be the person that when your feet touch the floor in the morning the devil says, “awe s***.. they’re up”. – Dwayne Johnson
“If something stands between you and your success – move it. Never be denied.” – Dwayne Johnson
“In 1995 I had $7 bucks in my pocket and knew two things: I’m broke as hell and one day I won’t be.” – Dwayne Johnson
“Success at anything will always come down to this: focus & effort. And we control both.” – Dwayne Johnson
“Success isn’t always about ‘Greatness’, it’s about consistency. Consistent, hard work gains success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson
“Success isn’t overnight. It’s when everyday you get a little better than the day before. It all adds up.” – Dwayne Johnson
“Think back 5 yrs ago. Think of where you’re at today. Think ahead 5 yrs and what you want to accomplish. Be Unstoppable.” – Dwayne Johnson
Every Monday At Manlihood.com – we celebrate men of courage, valor, creativity, innovation, and honor. We celebrate men who have accomplished great things, that have set good examples, and then have made the world a better place. This is #mancrushmonday
We all know Patrick Henry’s most famous quote:
“Give me Liberty or give me death!”
But there’s much more to this American hero, and this week’s Manlihood.com #ManCrushMonday selection.
According to History.com
Virginia lawyer and politician Patrick Henry (1736-1799) was one of the leading figures of the American Revolutionary period. An outspoken opponent of the Stamp and Townshend Acts levied by England, he stirred the seeds of discord with his famous Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death speech to the Virginia Assembly in 1775. Henry served a crucial role in the overthrow of the royally appointed Virginia leadership and was elected governor multiple times. Although he opposed the formation of the U.S. Constitution as a threat to the liberties of the people and the rights of the states, his criticisms helped bring about the amendments that became the bill of rights.
Quotes from Patrick Henry:
I know of no way of judging the future but by the past
Perfect freedom is as necessary to the health and vigor of commerce as it is to the health and vigor of citizenship.
Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense?
When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object.
The great object is that every man be armed.
The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.
For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it.
This is all the inheritance I give to my dear family. The religion of Christ will give them one which will make them rich indeed.
Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.
The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian but an American.
We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power… the battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Fear is the passion of slaves.
Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
Every New Year, talk of resolutions start surfacing. In this blog series, we’ll identify what it takes to make a fresh start, and to resolve to change your life permanently.
Probably the most common resolutions are “Quitting Smoking,” “Losing Weight,” or “Getting Healthy.” These resolutions, along with others, like getting sober, quitting drugs, and many others are in response to addictions.
Psychology Today defines addiction this way:
Addiction is a condition that results when a person ingests a substance (e.g., alcohol, cocaine, nicotine) or engages in an activity (e.g., gambling, sex, shopping) that can be pleasurable but the continued use/act of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, or health. Users may not be aware that their behavior is out of control and causing problems for themselves and others.
There are a number of different ways that we deal with addiction: We often trade one addiction for another. That’s why smokers who quit often gain weight…
There are so many facets to treating addiction, and getting to the root of the problem that we can’t get into here. I’m no expert, and even the experts have a variety of opinions on it. If you find yourself in need of more help, consult an expert.
In the meantime though, and especially in deailing with the smaller more manageable addictions – I can offer some advice.
Replace those addictions with good habits.
If you normally reach for a sugar soda to quench your thirst, replace it with ice water!
If you are addicted to caffeine, (by the way – the first three days of that addiction are the hardest!) Replace the need for a boost of energy with a quick burst of exercise or stretching! (My wife sells essential oils – I’ve found that a quick whiff of peppermint oil actually gives me almost the same boost of caffeine!)
Trying to quit smoking? If you are taking the smoke breaks out of your life, you have to replace them with something else that is GOOD for you.
Get together with your brothers-in-arms and talk about the addictions you need to cast off. Ask for advice, ask for accountability. Be honest with them about the struggles, and about the process. It may not be instant – sometimes screwing up is part of the process!