Tag: society

Forging A Better World

I am the product of a soft society.

I grew up inside of a kind of bubble, the kind I think most of us grow up in. The kind of bubble where tough, strong, or resilient weren’t really needed in day-to-day life.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. Life was better if you were all of those things, but the worst you got if you weren’t was some teasing, a bit of being pushed around, etc. It wasn’t the end of the world. It sucked and it shouldn’t be tolerated, but it wasn’t a life-or-death struggle either.

Today, we’re so soft that people need to be protected from mean words and bad thoughts.

Maybe it’s time we start working to forge a much better world.

Continue reading “Forging A Better World”

Thursday Thoughts: The Flexibility of Strength

What follows is my attempt to create some order out of the chaos that is this site. Things are kind of haphazard as to what gets posted when, and so I came up with the idea of a few specific days covering certain kinds of posts. “Thursday Thoughts” will most likely center on the more cerebral side of this approach I’m urging people to follow.

When people think of strong people, they don’t think of flexibility.

I’m not talking about the kind of flexibility that would make a world-class powerlifter moonlight as a contortionist, though that’s probably would people would imagine in the above sentence. Though, admittedly, now that I bring up that image, I’m pretty sure no one would think that about strong people either.

What I’m talking about is “flexibility” as meaning an ability to adapt to different situations. Continue reading “Thursday Thoughts: The Flexibility of Strength”

Gym Assault Illustrates How The Twisted Prey On Society’s Rules

Yesterday, I saw something that was pretty damn upsetting. It was an assault that took place at a Canadian gym.

Now, normally, I don’t pay that much attention to what happens up in Canada. I don’t like it when non-Americans interject their opinions on American topics, so I try to return the favor.

That said, Canada and the United States are pretty close to one another in a cultural sense, so this video shows an adult assaulting a teen lifter doing deadlifts, then being kicked out by the attacker who doesn’t appear to be a staff member of the gym. (Langauge warning)

Continue reading “Gym Assault Illustrates How The Twisted Prey On Society’s Rules”

Cultivating The Warrior Mind

Once upon a time, if you had a penis, you were expected to do certain things.  Among those things was to defend your tribe.  Each and every male was expected to earn the title of man and defend their home from invaders.

Men were warriors.

Modern day warriors at work. Photo by James Brooks
Modern day warriors at work. Photo by James Brooks

As time passed, this idea faded.  As numbers grew, it became less and less important for all men to be warriors and, instead, the responsibility was handed to a select group who prepared for war full-time.   However, in many of these eras, men still had to

However, in many of these eras, men still had to step up and prepare for battle at least some of the team.  Militias were formed to supplement the full-time warriors, which meant at least some had to have a warrior mindset in addition to their duties as farmers, potters, carpenters, etc. Continue reading “Cultivating The Warrior Mind”