30 Days To A Better Man, Day 17 - Talk To 3 Strangers

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 17 - Talk to 3 Strangers

     This one has never been a big deal for me - I don't really have a huge problem with talking to strangers (the teenage me would never believe it!). This task was especially easy to complete when I used to go to bars, or when I used to take public transportation. But these days - long solitary commute, long work day . . . I don't even interact with 3 strangers in my average day. This task may take me until the weekend to complete . . .

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 16 - Create A Budget

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 16 - Create A Budget

     Right now is not an easy time for budgeting. My wife is on disability, and is not getting any real regular income. My income is regular now, but is uncertain after June. So right now it is all but impossible to do this task effectively. But I have taken the steps I can to do this right. I have set up a budget in my Evernote and plugged in what I can for the moment. I will continue to plug in data as it becomes available, and build a functioning budget, with the plan to revise it around the Kalends of each month. So I may not create a budget in a day, but one is slowly evolving, and will continue to evolve . . .

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 15 - Make A Meal

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 15 - Make a Meal

I made my lunch today - but this isn't a big challenge for me, as I make a large percentage of the meals in my household!

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 14 - Write A Letter To Your Father

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 14 - Write a Letter to Your Father

     I have fallen so far behind in my correspondence . . . I had intended to catch up this week, but somehow my week was busier than I had intended. So now, I am somewhat grateful for this task, as it shall motivate me to begin catching up on my correspondence with my father (and my mother, who needs an update as well).

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 12 - Create A Bucket List

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 12 - Create A Bucket List

     I had created one previously, but now I uploaded it to Evernote and crossed off one accomplished item (my wedding!). Now, the hard part is keeping it up-to-date and setting plans in motion to accomplish goals . . .

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 11 - Give Yourself A Testicular Exam

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 11 - Give Yourself a Testicular Exam

     Not much to say here, except the importance of checking oneself for warning signs of cancer cannot be understated. Whether it is regular breast exams for women or testicular exams for men, it is foolish to take risks when a simple, regular checkup could save your life or your health.

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 10 - Memorize "If"

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 10 - Memorize "If"

So, this challenge is about the importance of memorization and poetry, along with one of the challenge-setter's favorite poems by Kipling. Now, I know all about the importance of memorizing some verse - better than most, I would imagine. And I have all sorts of bits of verse tucked away - Vergil, Ovid, Catullus, Shakespeare, etc. But Kipling's "If" is something I have never successfully memorized. I may try again, but it doesn't speak to me as it does to some others . . .

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 9 - Take A Woman On A Date

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 9 - Take a Woman on a Date

I think the last time I did the 30 Days, I noted the underlying inherent heterosexism in assuming that a man will be taking a woman on a date. But let's leave that aside for this time, OK? I think it is important to do this, even - or perhaps especially - when a man is married. I think one must never stop dating one's wife. That having been said, with my wife out of work right now on disability, money is very tight right now, and it may be a while before I can take her on a proper date. Even so, I'm looking forward to doing this soon . . .

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 8 - Start A Journal

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 8 - Start a Journal

Ummmm . . . check! I already keep a journal! Just updated it, in fact!

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 7 - Reconnect With An Old Friend

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 7 - Reconnect with an Old Friend

     So, a happy coincidence, but I just got caught up with a former student from Plymouth, Tracy. She's doing well, and had some great suggestions and words of encouragement about some of the situations my family is currently facing. So great to reconnect with her!

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 6 - Update Your Resume

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 6 - Update Your Resume

     This is both timely (considering my plans to look for new opportunities) and long overdue (hasn't really been updated since I applied for the job I have now about 3 years ago) . . .

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 5 - Cultivate Your Gratitude

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 5 - Cultivate Your Gratitude

     For this day of the challenge, I started a new Gratitude Journal as part of my regular journal. That should make it easier to keep up every day . . .

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 4 - Increase Your Testosterone

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 4 - Increase Your Testosterone

Choose three from this checklist (I am doing 4):

1. Get at least 8 hours of sleep tonight
2. Do not smoke at all today (if you don't normally smoke, this one cannot count as one of your 3!)
3. Do not eat anything with soy in it (read labels!)
4. Meditate for at least 10 minutes
6. Eat a serving of good fat (e.g. nuts, olives, olive oil, seeds, fish, avacadoes, etc.)
7. Eat a serving of animal protein
8. Eat a serving of cruciferous vegetables (e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, turnips, cabbage, brussels spouts, etc.) - not gonna happen
9. Have morning sex (if your partner is willing)

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 3 - Find A Mentor

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 3 0 Find A Mentor

     I cannot write much about this right now, but I shall be seeking mentorship in my current profession from a colleague for the remainder of the school year, and mentorship from certain associates about possible future career decisions for after this school year. This is not an easy thing for me to do.

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 2 - Shine Your Shoes

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 2 - Shine Your Shoes

     I'll do this task tonight when I get home - it'll be late (church Small Group Ministry meeting after work), but it'll be worth it for the exercise in good discipline alone, if not for the shinier shoes. I think I'll expand the task to include sorting my wardrobe a bit and getting rid of what needs to be discarded over the course of the month.

30 Days To A Better Man, Day 1 - Define Your Core Values

30 Days to a Better Man, Day 1 - Define Your Core Values

     March seems to be my month for this - attempting the "30 Days to a Better Man" challenge from The Art of Manliness. My life is challenging enough at the moment, but as the Roman New Year begins on March 1st, and it is near the beginning of spring and thus is a time symbolic of renewal, I feel the need to undertake the challenge yet again.

     The first task - day 1 - is to "define your core values." I have done this many times, and while I sometimes shift around my priorities within these core values, the values themselves remain the same. Some of them lack a single English word that encompasses all that I mean to say, so I have some that are split, like #3 Reason/Education.

      As my family and I stand at a crossroads right now, and we are struggling to define what our future should look like, and what Tanya and I want to do with the next phase of our lives, my values stand at the forefront of my decisions.

Here is the prioritized list:
1. Integrity - Without my personal sense of honor and integrity, any other values would be meaningless. Integrity must come first!
2. Family - Besides my sense of integrity, my family is the most important thing to me (what good would I be to my family without my integrity?). I have found that honoring the family is a delicate balancing act at times - like spending time away from one's family in order to support one's family. But my family - my wife Tanya, and my sons Andrew and Eli - are the core of my life.
3. Reason/Education - The life of the mind is of extremely high importance to me, and I honor with this value both the faculty of reason and the acquisition of material for reason to process (through education and learning). Right now I am considering an attempt to go back to school because this is something that has not been a formal part of my life for almost 15 years. I feel a powerful call to return to the hallowed halls of academia . . .
4. Philosophy/Spirituality - Nearly on par with reason and education is the care of the soul - I actually consider both to be different aspects of the same phenomenon, but there really is no way to express this properly in English. I have pursued philosophy (particularly Stoicism) over spirituality and religion for a long time because my profession as teacher has demanded neutrality from me in such matters. My religious beliefs (a form of the cultus deorum Romanorum) and valued spiritual teachings (such as those found in Unitarian Universalism) are of vital importance to me, and yet I have allowed them to be placed to one side for the purposes of my career, which I have come to feel is a mistake. I have always felt called to the clergy, and I am now considering the possibilities of seminary. These are the things that provide the human soul with its nourishment and comfort.
5. Discipline - A value on which I have always prided myself, and yet which has always been of uneven temper in my soul. I list this as the last core value in part because it is the one I feel needs the most work.