“Every man feels that the world is asking him to be something he doubts very much he has it in him to be.” – John Eldredge (Wild at Heart)

The thing about being a man is that sometimes we get scared too.

Sometimes we get scared that maybe we’re not everything you want and need us to be.

That maybe we’re not as strong and brave as you think we are.
That maybe we don’t always know what we’re doing.
That maybe we just don’t have it altogether.
That maybe we’re just not good enough.

The thing I’ve come to realize about being a man is not that we don’t have these thoughts and feelings.

It’s that we need to acknowledge these fears and flaws in ourselves and not let them hold us back from being the men we were created to be.

Being courageous doesn’t mean you’re not afraid.

“The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela

Being courageous, is acknowledging your fear and staring straight at it nonetheless.

I would rather stand tall and proud as a man, humble and honest of my flaws, fears, and failures,
and yet ready to continually strive to be better.

Than to be the man standing tall and proud, bound by a superficial arrogance and bravado in an attempt to mask a lifetime of flaws, fears, and failures – dreading the day his cover is exposed.

“‘Any day now, I’ll be found out’ is a pretty common theme among us guys. Truth be told, most of us are faking our way through life. We pick only those battles we are sure to win, only those adventures we are sure to handle.” – John Eldredge (Wild at Heart)

Truth is, sometimes we’re scared.
Sometimes we’re petrified.

But that is just the beginning of the story. Not the end.

Our fears are there to remind us that we have something to fight for and something worth defending.
Our flaws tell us that we don’t have all the answers and that we need others in our lives.
Our failures teach us that in the future we can and should do better.

Yes, I’m scared sometimes. We all are.
But never, do I ever want my fear to be where the story begins and ends.

For just as Tolkien wrote to his son, Christopher, in 1944, in the midst of war:
“Well, there you are: a hobbit amongst the Urukhai. Keep up your hobbitry in heart, and think that all stories feel like that when you are in them. You are inside a very great story!”

We, as men, have great stories inside of us, waiting to be told.

On being a man and becoming better men – it is a great adventure we have been given.
An adventure ready and waiting to be lived.

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Reposted by The Good Men Project