The Heart of the Matter

John Eldridge wrote in his book Wild at Heart, that there are three basic things in every man's heart and soul: A Battle to Fight; An Adventure to Live; A Beauty to Rescue. After reading this I was shocked at how closely my life reflected much of this. My relationships with others, especially women, have all clearly reflected these concepts, however, I never really understood much of the "why" part. It's not that we are literally born to go to war, or discover the last resting place of the Holy Grail, or even be the hero that rescues the damsel in distress - but metaphorically, yes! We men need to feel important, respected, perhaps even honored from time to time - yet also to remain humble, lest we develop an ego (which is short for "Edging God Out" of our lives). I think it's very important men come to realize that perhaps they too have much of these ideals represented in their lives. I highly recommend you read the book, as John provides sound reasoning that has been garnered from many years of counselling others to describe why men act the way they do and how women can better understand them (us) as well. Hopefully a clearer understanding of our motives shall lead us to, perhaps facilitate, a more harmonius existence between and amongst the sexes, yes? I watched an interview today with John and his wife and it got me thinking about the book again. What I took from it, and how I have applied the information I gained; not only how I interact with other men and women in my life, but also how I see many of my friends and acquaintences behave. I believe that He is using me to teach others and clearly I have much more to learn in regard. I firmly believe that we never stop learning, and every new experience adds to the whole, whether it is positive or negative. While many of my endeavors have ended up being "learning experiences", some have produced excellent examples of the impact that making the right choice has on one's life. It never ceases to amaze me how much opportunity we have to influence others as we learn and grow ourselves in our own understanding of why we do the things that we do. This is also true in our ability to learn the same from others' experience, yes? I hope that I have influenced your thoughts in a positive way today - perhaps even inspired you to do something decidedly different. That hope makes this crazy life of mine worth the effort. Read, learn, grow, share - and fight the good fight! Live Well - Be Well! Stephen