It's normal for a man to pretend as if he's got it all together. "I'm good!" is the mantra of the common man. We say this for several reasons. First off, we understand the expectation that we should be strong and stoic, regardless of the weight on our shoulders. That's the plight of man. But on an even deeper level, we know that nobody cares what we're dealing with. So, we lie.... Weakness is something that I absolutely hate! For a long time, I moved with that understanding, finding myself detested whenever in the presence of someone being "weak." It wasn't until I began to peel the onion of who I had become that I began to understand where this disgust came from. It wasn't external, at all. The anger came from the little boy I found hiding in the shadows of my soul. Life has a way of teaching us lessons, if we're just willing to get out of the way long enough to listen and learn. For me, the lesson was hiding behind the dragon I refused to allow in my gym: little kids. For many years, I declined the opportunity to work with athletes younger than 13. I don't particularly like kids. Plus, my goal was to win a state championship in football. So, I wanted to be as close to that as possible. I quickly learned that kids weren't being trained the same we were in the 80's-90's. Many of the teen aged athletes didn't have the ability to perform what seemed to be simple movements. After years of having to teach what should have already been learned, it became necessary for me to begin training the kids closer to their formative years than their championship years. This is where the onion peel made my eyes water... I would come across several young boys who were inherently weak, passive and kind of pussy over the next few years. Looking back, the way I handled them was wrong. Rather than finding out what created this disposition, I subconsciously orchestrated ways to ensure they'd quit coming to my gym. Once the weakness arose, I became an anchor rather than a rope. I sank them, because I didn't want weakness in my gym!!!

As men, we should be working to be and become the absolute best we can for those we are blessed to serve. What are your daily non-negotiables that require discipline? Where have you fallen short? What are you doing differently to eliminate those short falls?

Life can change with one choice. What choices have you made in your life that have resulted in drastic alteration of your course? What choice would change your life today, if you only made it and stood behind it? What's stopping you?