Apathy: The Greatest Battle a Man Will Fight
Don’t Use the Paper!
Arena Men,
All the blog post in the month of July are excerpts from our 365 Men’s Devotional, The Field Guide: A Bathroom Book for Men. Warning: do not use the paper as TP. That stuff will cut you!
We are sharing the five essentials from my new book Strong Men Dangerous Times in preparation for the August 1st launch of our Best Version Assessment that will be available on our website.
The Climb
“Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. (Psalm 24:3-4)”
“Slow and steady, slow and steady.”
My hunting partner Darby whispered these words of encouragement from behind
me in between breaths as we climbed the sheer mountain face with packs, weighted with my New Mexico mule deer. I’m not sure if his words were meant to encourage me or self-talk himself up the mountain—but it worked.
Similarly, I once asked my father-in-law how he marched for so many miles with such heavy pack loads during his Marine days, and his response was simply, “Slow and steady, slow and steady.”
If hope and anticipation characterized the trailhead (see last week’s blog), then pain and resistance describe the ascent. In fact, a man is ignorant at the trailhead exactly once. Afterward, he knows what to expect. If the pain is too great or resistance too negative, he may never climb again. But resistance is part of the climb. Suffering is climbing. With climbing, as with the military adage, we must embrace the suck.
Pain is part of the climb. And the temptation to quit. Quitting, however, must never be an option while climbing the mountain of manhood.
Every male is anatomically similar, but not every male is a man. The world is filled with males (not men) who saw the potential trials of manhood and chose the low road, the path of least resistance. Others, sadly, began the climb, but couldn’t hack it. They dropped their families somewhere along the path like an overloaded pack. Like a Mt. Everest carcass, the remnant of a fatal summit attempt, everyone who passes sees the carnage of his childish decision to remain a weaker male.
Manhood is tough.
It’s the most difficult mountain a man will ever climb. Any man who’s made the journey will admonish younger men to train hard and pack light. Listen to the wisdom of the writer of Hebrews, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).
I love it.
When We Stop Fighting Apathy
To climb is to fight resistance, which produces passion, strength, and perseverance. Failing to battle the forces that weigh us down results in apathy, weakness and attrition.
Apathy is simply a loss of feeling. The Bible calls this callousness. Calluses form when our body loses its ability to resist function, seen often on the hardened hands of a construction worker.
However, when a man refuses to resist the forces of life that press against him, the callus formed is over his heart. He becomes apathetic, calloused—hard.
A defining moment for a man is when he wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror, and decides to fight the forces of apathy, committing to climb the mountain of manhood one step at a time, “Slow and steady, men.”
Slow and steady.
Do You Want to Live at Full Capacity?
The Men in the Arena Board of Directors is passionate about small groups (aka teams). We believe teams are the greatest tool where we see long term growth in men. Starting this fall we are unveiling a NEW strategic plan to train thousands upon thousands of men globally about how to live at full capacity as their best version.
During the month of July, we are writing about each of the five essentials of manhood that will be covered extensively in our new program and are explained in detail in the Amazon #1 bestseller, Strong Men Dangerous Times. On August 1st we will go live with the Best Version Assessment and actively place trailblazing men into teams with our seasoned National Team Captains.
Spots are extremely limited to first come first serve. This is not a marketing ploy. We are launching five teams of 20 men maximum this fall cycle, five more during the winter cycle and five more in the spring— 300 men maximum. Sign up today to reserve a spot on the Wait List. The only cost involved is the price of the workbook.
Living at Full Capacity in Him,
Jim