Allen's Blog

What is a man?   An alphabetical list of attributes to which every man should attain. E Encourager What encouragement is NOT. Saying, “You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it”; Making promises that you know you cannot keep such as, “If you get all A’s on your report card, you can get into any college you want”;   Or giving false hope in the midst of a dire situation.   Often these types of words come out of our mouths because we want to be helpful.   Without much thought, we promise the world only to leaving those we love disappointed and disillusioned. When a moment calls for the right words.   We often say nothing.   I’ve seen men caught in this bind when watching their children play sports.   It’s built into us to seek our Dad’s approval.   A child is struggling on the court or the field and they look to the most important man in their life only to see disappointment all over his face.   In these moments we need to ask if we are more concerned for our own reputations

In 1968 a statement was attributed to Andy Warhol, “We live in an age where each of us is seeking our fifteen minutes of fame.”   Little did he know what was coming.   Whether it’s ‘hits’, ‘tweets’, ‘comments’, ‘likes’ or the number of ‘friends’ you claim, each of us has the potential to thrust our thoughts, accomplishments, talent (or lack thereof) before a world-wide audience.   And yet, not everyone takes advantage of pursuing such fame.   Everyone has enjoyed some aspect of this brave new world, and I will confess that I enjoy a smattering of entertainment that the internet provides.   Some of my favorites are clips from old TV shows, series of posts about Border Collies demonstrating their intelligence, and the amazing skill of a few on “America’s Got Talent”. Much of it is meant as pure entertainment, but the temptation to thrust your personal thoughts and images before a watching world should be examined closely. Many of you not only avoid such exposure but   actually abhor the

Thirty two years ago I got the idea for a book that would outline the serpentine path that my life has taken.   Even then I had experienced significant pitfalls, broken relationships and rejection that I thought would kill me.   Not all was doom and gloom; these were mixed in with tremendous opportunities and blessings.   In an effort to gain perspective, I came up with the title, The Smoothing of the Stone   and began writing a blog in 2012, imagining that a book was forth coming.   Eleven years later I can look back and say, “Well, you might have had something to offer then, but now…oh boy…now look what you’ve got.”   Of course, maybe I should keep waiting because the stone, that is me, pitted and marred by the tossing and tumbling, still at times looks fairly smooth at first glance.   In the past ten years my seasoning process has stepped up a level.   Rejection of my character and personality has revealed flaws of which I was not aware.   I have been blessed to not have experienced

                                                                                       What is a man?   An alphabetical list of attributes to which every man should attain.   D Discipline (Self-discipline) The word ‘discipline’ probably brings to mind one of two things: the spanking you got as a child or the strict regimen of a marine in training.   What value does discipline have in my every day life?   I’m not in the military nor am I under the constraints of my parents.   Doesn’t discipline imply restriction, limitations or being forbidden.   If you’ve ever tried to diet, this probably sounds familiar.   You’ve got to limit your food intake.   You can only eat at certain times of the day.   And some foods are absolutely forbidden.   Doesn’t sound very pleasant.   The discipline of exercise doesn’t sound much better.   Was it Arnold Shwartzenegger that said, “No Pain, No Gain.”   What about - “Sweat is Fat Crying”, “Feel the Burn”, “You can have results or excuses.   You can’t have