Does This Mean I'm Only a 1/3 of a Man?

Of the 30 Days to a Better Man project, I made it (kinda-sorta) 10 days. I just have too many other thing to distract me to stay focused on one thing for too long. I'm like a magpie: "Ooo! Shiny!" and off I go in a different direction. It can be a little agravating at times, but there it is.

I suppose I could go back and make more catch-up posts, but that doesn't really interest me at the moment. I read through the tasks for the other days, and while there were some good ones, I'm ready to move on with life.

"So," I can hear you saying, "what, exactly, has been monopolizing your attention this past month?" Several things:

• A board game called BattleTech - giant fighting robots, huzzah!
• Trying to brainstorm ways to get in better shape without actually having to do anything (I'll let you know if I come up with any good ideas)
• A scattering of religious topics - mostly revolving on things I should and need to improve upon in my life
• I finished reading Robinson Crusoe and gearing up for Huckleberry Finn
• The Fourth of July is coming up and I'm planning on, yet again, being a right-wing extremist rabblerouser

I'm sure there were others, but either they didn't catch my attention long enough for me to remember a week or so later. Go figure.

Day 10: Memorize "If"

I've never been real good with memorization (tolerable, but not what I would call "good") and this particular poem, while very manly, is somewhat long. Guess I'm going to have to "man up" and start with the memorization. This will certainly take me longer than one day...

“If”
By: Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!

Day 9: Take a Woman on a Date

(I haven't been in the writing mood lately...hence the short, and late, posts)

Leslie and I already had a date of sorts scheduled for this Saturday, but I asked her for a date anyway. We're planning on going out this Thursday as well. It'll be nice for her to get away from the kids (one cranky two-year old in particular) for a bit.

Day 8: Start a Journal

Ta da! How convenient that I just recently blogged about something very similar. I'm marking this one done!

Day 7: Reconnect With an Old Friend

(another backdated post...)

This one didn't happen either. I spent the day reading and teaching my son how to play the BattleTech board game. Giant Fighting Robots! Woohoo! I'd much rather connect with my son than reconnect with an old friend. Besides, finding some of those people has proven downright difficult over the years.