It's Not Just For My Wife

I really love my wife. Sometimes it's hard to think of things to say for this blog because it all seems so repetitive (as I mentioned before). Most of what I do that makes me a good man around the house and with the family needs doing a lot and often, and so it's the same-old, same-old. That's great for being great here, but it makes for kind of dull reading and reporting. Incredible event-like opportunities only come up every now and then because real life is just that way.

The truth of the matter is that being a good man cannot stop with my family, although it probably should "start" with them. What I mean by that is that I'm as helpful as I have time and energy to be, without some "what's in it for me" bull-crap attitude pretty much wherever and whenever I can be. I do a lot for any organization lucky enough to capture enough of my attention for me to sign on with them, and I do it all almost without expectations of any kind of recompense. I just enjoy helping folks I deem worth helping, which is many, many folks. I also mean that for aspiring good-men or those already well down the path, you're probably not succeeding at being as good as you would like to be or think you are if you're putting all that other crap ahead of your family and household.

So I guess this is a note about good-man priorities: take care of yourself and your family first (putting their needs above your convenience and entertainment but not above your own actual needs) and then extend the same attitude to your friends and community. The trick is to maintain a balance so that you're not spreading yourself too thin, though, because it's easy to let happen to yourself once you become a "helper," particularly if you help honestly, meaning without expectation of payment or reward.

So there it is: be a good man to yourself; be a good man to your household; and be a good man to your community. If you're not a man, then change the word "man" to "person" in the previous sentence and do the same damn thing. This isn't a double-standard kind of picture.