If you believe that watching ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ is going to help your life, then it’s time to wake up.
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Dealing with real-life issues can become quite a challenge, and even fun.
Is this an oxymoron? Having fun while facing what is going on in life and not ducking those hard situations? Hmm, I don’t know if I feel a lot of fun coming up within me.
Yet I would rather see reality and grasp its emotional gut-wrenching opportunities than check out in Fantasy Land (which is just south of Candy Land, I think).
Squaring up with reality is not always supposed to be fun. I’m not talking “reality TV” type of real here. It is not going to help your situation one bit by binge-watching “Real Housewives of Orange County” or the Grandmother of them all, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” You may think it will, but I have some bad news for you. It will not help one bit.
I am talking about having the stark realization or awareness that whatever life was “supposed” to look like starts becoming an illusion. Sometimes, a man has to give up his preconceived notions about how life is “supposed” to be.
So, raise the white flag for me. I surrender.
Let me hear you say, “But you have to struggle to get somewhere. You have to go through those tough times because the path of life goes through them.”
Still, must a man always—literally and figuratively—have to go through difficult moments in life? It gets pretty tiring after a while. Going through them opens up a whole new set of questions and answers for me.
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Auto racing fans know that the white flag is waved entering a race’s final lap. Drivers at the front of the pack are either pushing their cars to the last limit, or watching the leader who is 20 laps ahead roar to Victory Lane.
Yet when a man decides to wave a white flag of surrender, many people scoff at him, call him weak or a loser, and send him to the back of the human spawn line.
Please.
Now for you tough guys out there, I imagine you always grab reality with both hands. You tough guys never duck anything and take it head on. Just go to the gym, pound out 20 reps using 50-pound dumbbells 3-4 times, and everything’s fixed. That definitely can help ease some emotional pain and work up a good sweat.
On a deeper level, though, there remain those unresolved issues.
That “macho man” deal doesn’t really stand the test of time. While I don’t fit the macho man image, there are plenty of times were I’ve played “The Master of the Universe” role. Whoops! It never works out. All that happens is that I just make a bigger mess.
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What is your reality? What issues are facing you in the face right now that you’d rather not talk about?
Think about it or, rather, feel your way toward a new reality. This “great awakening” of a man’s soul becomes filled with love, light and joy instead of fear, dread and worry. One might be so caught up in asking himself if even this awakening was a sort-of test in life.
Being one who has taken a big tumble recently, let me tell you that there is nothing more exhilarating than coming to a realization that more light and love are definitely possible.
There is an old saying about comparing my insides to another person’s outsides, which means that I see my own situation as being worse because that dude has a lot of outer trinket good life play toys. I’m putting myself in the “one-down” mode versus simply accepting everyone where he is in life in this moment.
Oh, I can go on and on about hard times and not wanting to even face them. While I have faced a LOT of them (with a lot of help from my friends), I know there are still many miles to go.
Yet each morning, there are men and women who work in the health field. Those who stay awake all night at a substance abuse treatment center or inside assisted-living and Alzheimer’s disease communities.
Imagine being a nurse or care assistant in these areas. Each day has its own set of challenges. The patients and residents, obviously, have their own, too. Some days are worse than others. Having spent a lot of time personally with family members in assisted-living communities, many of these individuals are what I call “human angels.” I’m not immune to the fact that a few people here and there don’t always treat loved ones like I would want them treated. For the most part, though, these caring, compassionate people make sure people receive the best care possible.
You want some real-life issues, man? Leave your religious, political or moral high ground in the dust. This is the common ground of reality. If there is not some place within your heart and soul that can identify with these people, then it’s time to get your “real” on right now.
If you have no idea what reality looks like for you, then ask yourself this question: “Do I want a greater sense of reality in my life?” Start there and see where you go. It could be the start of your own awakening.
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