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Right off the top, yeah, I’m a comic book nerd, and no I will not apologize for that. Everybody has a “thing” and that’s my thing. If you haven’t picked up a comic book in a few years you may be surprised at what you find.
Amazing writing, lessons about life, how to treat others and ideas on how we as the readers of comic books can help make the world a better place.
As far as superheroes go, I’ve long been fascinated with Batman, and I guess the whole bat family as I have a decent size collection of Batgirl comics and a few Batwoman as well.
Why am I fascinated with Batman? Simple. He has no superpowers to speak of unless you consider obnoxious wealth to be a superpower. Personally, I don’t find that to be a superpower, but rather a way to make him the best hero he can be.
So what is it that Batman taught me about life? I’m glad you asked.
Strength
I’m not talking just physical strength that Batman has, but I’m also talking about inner strength. Bruce Wayne, Batman, wasn’t born on Krypton and doesn’t derive powers from the yellow sun, nor was he gifted a cool ring like Green Lantern.
Batman uses his physical and mental strength to get through his battles with those that would do Gotham City harm. His lesson that with inner strength we can make great things happen sticks in my brain. Sometimes I forget about it, but I try to get back to it ASAP.
Tenacity
“I have one power. I never give up.” I read that in a Batman comic once and it stuck with me. I know I tend to give up too easily on things, but I shouldn’t. A setback is just that, a setback and not the end of the line.
If something doesn’t go quite the way we had hoped or we’re thrown a curveball and swing and miss on something we’re working on, we need to stick with it and not say, “forget it” at the first setback.
Batman gets his butt handed to him but when he does, he regroups and gets right back in the fight. I need to constantly remind myself to follow that example.
Belief in Self
This is where I struggle. A lot. Batman believes he can do what he sets out to do because he’s thought things through, knows what he’s capable of when he pushes his limits and believes that he can take down whoever stands in his way.
I think that these three things go hand in hand because if you don’t have that inner strength and tenacity, you’re likely to nit believe in yourself. Or at least not to the level one has to believe in order to succeed at fighting a supervillain or just getting through life.
Is it weird that as a fully-grown male with an adult child, I can still find lessons that can be learned through comic books? Maybe. But however we get these lessons into our lives and in our heads, we need to know and believe in these things in order to thrive and succeed in our everyday lives.
While we as men in the world today don’t need to shove Batman comic books in our kid’s faces, we do need to teach our sons and daughters how to be strong individuals with a belief system that they’re willing to stand up for.
There is so much I see in this world that makes me ashamed. Some things make me ashamed to be a man, others to be a Caucasian man and still others, simply to be a member of the human race.
If it’s not Batman that you draw inspiration from, find your own source. What’s important is that we, as men, fathers and people, have our beliefs and values and that we’re not afraid to stand up for them.
That’s what Batman taught me. What have you learned about how to be your best and from who? Please share your answers with us. We want to know.
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However, you engage with The Good Men Project—you can help lead this conversation about the changing roles of men in the 21st century. Join us!
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Photo credit: Photo Courtesy Unsplash.
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Love this post! Batman has been a part of my life for nearly 50 years. I’ve had the fortune to meet Adam West twice (First in 1976, then in 2016, prior to his passing.) . Watched the Batman TV show religiously as a kid, seen all the movies in theaters, read the comics, owned (and still own a few) the toys. Batman has been surrounded with tragedy, but chose to fight for justice. He didn’t have to. Wealthy beyond his needs, he could have simply enjoyed the riches, but he chose a different path. Inspiring character to guide me and… Read more »
Thanks, Michael. I think Batman has been a part of every boy’s life growing up. It’s awesome that you met Adam West. He seemed to be the kind of guy who loved that he was but never took himself too seriously.
Totally agree with your remark about his wealth and not just kicking back. The idea of Batman is one that we could all take a lesson from.
Selfless. Determined. Moral. Hard Working. All qualities worth having.