We are men

It's my B-Day in RL today, and I was reflecting on what I believe it means to be a man, and why we are deserving of our due rights. I must honestly admit, that I do not always live up to these ideals, but it is what I measure myself, and other people who call themselves real men.

• We do not take advantage of the weakness of others
• We do what's right, not what's easy
• When nobody else can or will, we do, or at least die trying
• We use our strength of body and mind to support those who are weaker.
• We do not lie, cheat, or steal.
• We sacrifice of ourselves for the greater good of our friends, our family, and our communities.

Maybe cliche, maybe a bit trite, but it's what I consider a man to be. I have also known women that were good "men". I was also fortunate enough to have people in my life that showed me the value of leading such a life.

Real men are the father that has cancer but goes to work anyway so his family can have another paycheck. Real men go into the streets and capture criminals, fight fires, they are on the battlefields dodging bullets, but they are also the unseen one, the backbone of what we hold dear.

I recently had a kind of surreal experience. I met a man named Adam. A random encounter. He told me a story of of how his wife had died last year, and he had a 10 year old and 13 year old son. They were getting ready for bed and one of the sons said "he liked it better how mom did it". He stayed strong in front of the kids, and kept it together, then later, went into the garage, where the kids would not hear, and broke down in tears.

On the day of my birth, I drink a toast to you Adam, and all of the real men, the ones that say strong when you would rather just give up, the ones that push forward and take the brunt so that other may follow, we lead by example. Boys want to be us, and we are proud of how we live our lives, we are men.