Bliss

My bliss is... to be a good man.  There is no higher goal or satisfaction I can achieve in life than to adhere as closely as possible to the ideals of good and right.  This is not some vague, shallow notion of manhood as it is often presented to us through media and cultural norms today, but rather a strong template of a leader, a warrior, a provider, a comforter, a mentor, a wise counsel, a servant, a sacrifice.  The US population is about 300 million people; about half of them are males.  Of those 150 million men, I would not count it a stretch to say that over half of them are not Men.  They may be men, but the concept of Manhood has been so diluted and perverted that it has become all but extinct in popular society.  Instead there are the "macho men" and there are the "submissive men"  The submissive man is a sensitive, emotion baring, good guy, but he has no spine; he has given up the natural leadership, strength, and aggressive passion of the man's soul.   The macho man is a rebellion against the submissive man, praising the ultra-agressive, ultra-sexual, animal side of man without recognizing the other, more compassionate, sacrificial, provider roles of Man.  I think both archetypes are built out of some sense of selfishness and social insecurity, whereas the ideal of Manhood that I aspire to (though often poorly) should be founded upon a concern for others and the security of doing right rather than looking to social feedback for approval.  I might sound like an overgrown Boy Scout for this...and I am... but it is the ideal that I hold to, and it is, at its very core, my bliss.