33. What Makes a Man a Man?

As time passes, a boy gets older. His body grows — but at what point does he become a man? Culture is more than happy to tell you what makes a man. Brett and Perry have different ideas. To be a good father, you must be a good man. And to be a good man... a real man... well, how to achieve that is the million dollar question. We endeavor to answer that question, at least in part, in this episode.

"Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city." — Proverbs 16:32

If— by Rudyard Kipling

(‘Brother Square-Toes’—Rewards and Fairies)

If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Resources

The following book series is referenced in this episode:

The Bark of the Bog Owl (Wilderking Trilogy - Book 1)
The Secret of the Swamp King (Wilderking Trilogy - Book 2)
The Way of the Wilderking (Wilderking Trilogy - Book 3)

Similar Episodes

Episode 7: Adventure, Hard Work, and the Heart of a Cowboy
Episode 31: Navigating the Trying Teenage Years, with Corey Wilson

A Dose of Motivation

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” — Winston Churchill

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