If you consider yourself a renaissance man or capable man, then this question has been posed to you by your wife/girlfriends’ sisters and friends and colleagues. Sometimes they may put it in a different way, for example by saying do you have any friends that you can introduce me to? Or where are all the men that are like you? Sometimes they even say it in a statement by saying to your wife/girlfriend that she got lucky! Or I don't know how you found him!
I'm asked this question on a regular basis, and honestly, I'm always kind of stuck with the loss of words as to how to respond to it. Sometimes I'm brutally honest by blurting out “All my childhood friends are dead or in jail for life” … I almost always regret saying that when I do. Well, this is the first thing that comes to mind. Sometimes I just simply say “I don't know about men these days” followed by a shoulder shrug.
Where are all the Renaissance Men?
To be completely honest it’s a question that I've had a hard time being able to articulate and give a good answer. The truth is all the people I grew up with ARE dead or in jail and I don't know about men these days. But that's not the proper way to articulate what really goes on with men in our growth to manhood. More recently I've done a lot of reading about history and the wars of history, but I regularly read and study about animals. Taking a page from Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger (both of which read about two to three hours every morning cause they anything they can get their hands on) I've come to understand that just reading more whether it's about financial success, animals, history, or psychology can I increase my intellect, my knowledge base, and allow me to be able to extrapolate from an infinite amount of shared experiences that are happening in the world. Recently I heard a statement made about the big cat LIONS by a gentleman online stating that “Men are like lions when it comes to territory”, and his woman counterpart replied, “All the male lion does is lay around and chill all day, while the female lions work hard hunting for food and caring for the kids.” She continued “The male lion just waits for dinner to be ready and walks up and eats first, IT’S JUST NOT FAIR”
Now I'll be honest when a woman starts using the “F” WORD…” FAIR”, I can't help but roll my eyes. But using my mental faculties of perception, I thought to myself. (SHES RIGHT! THAT’S ACTUALLY NOT FAIR). However, before I declare her the winner in this debate of fairness among lions and lionesses, I thought let's research exactly what alfa male lions do. Below are my findings that you may be able to relate to.
Where are all the Renaissance Men?
Male lion cubs are born amongst their female sisters, they are fed from the mother just like the sisters, using the mother’s milk as well as meat from prey when they're old enough to handle it. However male Cubs are disciplined aggressively by the alpha male lion to keep them in check and to establish order, the female Cubs are not disciplined by the alpha male lion at all. At about 18 months to two years old the male cub is abandoned by his entire family, to be put more appropriately they literally run him away from the pride by threatening his life.
There are several theories on why this is done, one theory is: so that he doesn't mate with his sisters and damage the bloodline, another theory is: The alpha male doesn't want to raise his competition, another theory is: That they're bigger and stronger and literally take the food out of their sisters’ mouths. Nonetheless he's an orphan. He then spends the next four to five years on his own killing food by himself. Fighting off hyenas by himself. Avoiding the detection of other alpha male lions, as every single alpha male lion is very serious about his territory and executes fatalities for other male lions no matter how young they may be entering into his territory and especially killing prey in his territory. Every time he kills any prey by himself and eats, he leaves behind a carcass with his smell on it, which is evidence, this fact keeps him on the run. Essentially, he is a nomad for four to five years. What he doesn't realize during this time is that he's sharpening his skills, building up gravitas, becoming more fierce, stronger, and carving out the type of fortitude that meets and overtakes any adversity.
While all of this is happening, his sisters are safely protected by a pride of 9 to 20 lions and his sisters eat regularly as they hunt in packs as a family. His sisters sleep safe and sound in the territory of their pride getting enough rest to travel and hunt the following day.
At about six or seven years old the male lion is strong enough and skilled enough to take over a pride in which he challenges another alpha male to the death. If he wins, he immediately mates with all the female lioness in his new pride which is normally an average of 6 to 9 lionesses all of which are normally sisters. The lionesses have a great respect for him because not only do they know that he has overcome as a nomad proving that he has the capability to survive on his own as well as kill prey by himself for years at a time, but he has also met the ultimate challenge of killing their previous alpha male which they had great respect for. The new alfa male lion’s daily tasks commence of chastising young male curbs, walking about his territory leaving his scent (average lion territory is 75 square miles), checking on his pride of lionesses, and roaring about two hours a night to make it very clear to any and every one that is within a five-mile radius that this territory is his.
here's the part that no one talks about, 8 out of 10 lion male Cubs die in the wilderness after they are threatened to leave home and abandoned by their pride. Out of the two that survive the four-to-five-year nomadic wilderness only one survives the fight to take over a pride from an established alpha male lion. so only one out of 10 makes it to be king.
So, the next time I find it difficult to articulate where all the good capable men are located, I'll be able to use the journey of the young male lion cub as an example of all that it takes for a male in this day and age to be tried by fire and cured in the furnace to get to the destination of being called good and capable, or king.
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