Be a yardstick of quality. Some
people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.
Steve
Jobs
If you have been reading my posts
for a while, you will have noticed how I emphasis the idea that you have to better
yourself for yourself. I don’t believe in the idea that you become a better
person to impress others, that you can’t be a gentleman if your intention is to
be liked or respected, but rather you might be liked or respected because you
are a gentleman. With that said, there is one important bonus to carrying
yourself as a noble man, and that is your ability to inspire others, specially
boys and young men, to strive to be more. You become the example that others
need.
We live in a society that offers
young men few proper role models. Between boys being raised in families with
little interaction with their fathers, a mass media that promotes self-centered
narcissism and entitlement, and a social media that reduces young men into the
social problem they can become, becoming the exception to the norm is an act of
social obligation all good men must strive for. We need to prove to these
future men that not all men are the same. We need to prove that they aren’t predestined
to become the absentee father figure, the irresponsible man-child, nor the potential
criminal.
You might think that not being a
father is enough excuse to ignore this aspect of being a Gentleman. You can’t,
not if you want to honor what it means to be a true Gentleman. These boys are
starved for proper examples, for someone who believes they can be more. You see
it as they gravitate towards that Teacher who believes they can excel, to the Sensei who teaches them and confidence, to the Coach who teaches them to push
their limitations, to the Mentor who gives them guidance, or simply the random
Gentleman who treats them with respect when nobody else will.
Yes, you become better for yourself.
But you can only be a better man when you pass on those lessons to others. Isn’t
that what being a better man is about? Selflessly living for others, raising
others beyond what they could be on their own?
So walk proudly and properly. Carry
yourself with dignity while treating everyone with respect. Become a beacon of
virtue as you never know who’s looking up to you at that very moment. You might
be the example someone needs to become more.
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