A Call to Action

A Call to Action = A Call for Accountability

This will be something new for The Strange Him!! newsletter. Every week The Strange Him!! is going to offer a challenge to all of you MEN reading this. The first topic we jumped on right out of the gate was EXCUSES and accountability, and for a first attempt, the message came across…maybe just OK. Then after re-reading that newsletter, it jumped out that there was something missing…A Call to Action. We all have a person, or people, in our life who we are accountable to. We also have people who have accountability to us. But accountability is a two-way street. If we give an accountability partner excuses for our failures…guess what? They in turn will eventually begin heave excuses right back at us for their non-fulfillments. The Call to Action is an exercise to try and help us quit with the excuses and to take “ownership” of our actions. The more we exercise our ability to be accountable, the less we will feel the need for excuses to try and shield ourselves from bad outcomes.

The Why and The What?

We are going to start with something that is very simple but can be very hard. Reading is one of the best ways to “educate” ourselves, aside from YouTube. Just kidding! Although YouTube can be a good tool, probably the very best way to educate ourselves is by actually doing things…hands on. Running a close second to hands on learging is reading. There is so much we can all learn from reading and so many benefits we gain from reading. Reading engages our mind, teaches us new words, teaches us new things, teaches us about new places, all while at the same time, taking our mind away from the stresses of our daily life. The only time reading can actually be a hinderance to a person is if they let reading consume their life and take control of their time. Other that that, it is doubtful anyone can say reading is bad.

For this week (07. 06.2024-07.13.2024) The Strange Him!! newsletter challanges each of you to read a book, at least 15 minutes a day. Read a book, not a magazine, not a newsletter (althought we appreciate you being here to read this newsletter), not a newspaper, and definitely nothing digital. Get old school and read a book.

OK, that is it…not hard but for some it will be tough.

The Challenge

Read a book for 15 minutes every day for the next week. Make yourself accountable to do it. Start here taking accountability for your actions.

There will be a poll next week for you to answer if you met The Challenge.

It Only Takes a Moment.

The Forging Table

A friend of mine from college (Redneck #2) and myself (Redneck #1)(we call ourselves that when referring to each other) were talking via text last week and he shared something with me that really hit me deep. First, let me step back and address the Redneck#1 and Redneck #2. When we address each other, and we still do today, this is what we call each other. Do I even remember his real name? Yes I do, but this is how we relate. It is not degrading of us, rather it is our endearment for each other. Yes, men have endearment for each other and this is one way we shared that endearment with each other by the use of a nicknames. If you want to learn a little more about nicknames, check it out. The Art of Manliness is a great podcast/newsletter for men. If you dont subscribe already, go see for yourself.

Back to being kicked in the gut. As I said, Redneck #2 mentioned something and it really hit me because it is something I feel strongly about. The manliness of MEN (and how we are losing that manliness). When I heard it, I knew this is exactly what his group is about. The Forging Table! This is a men’s group that he had started after listening to the podcast Undaunted.Life where Kyle Thompson, the founder of the podcast, has a segement called The Forging Table. (Before that conversation I had never heard or much less listened to the podcast. Since the time Redneck #2 told me about it, I have listened to the Undaunted.Life podcast and I recommend you take a listen. It will be well worth your time.) Although we didnt talk much about the group or the podcast I instantly knew what it was about. The Forging Table is about bringing men together, issues facing men, and helping MEN grow. This struck a chord with me and knew this theme had to incorporated into The Strange Him!! newsletter. Just saying “The Forging Table” immediately draws me in and creates and image of men growing strong together.

Men need other men. Sometimes our counterpart, women, do not understand why we need the companionship of another male. Men need men. Men know men. Its why as the bible says it takes a man to sharpen his friend. The F3 cult…I mean group, that I am a part of (F3 doesnt have members, you are a man that is a part of a group) is only men for a reason. When men struggle together, men grow together. Look no farther than basic training of the US military. Not only physically but, emotionally, spiritually and every other dimension on the Wellness Wheel.

If you want to read more on the horizontal relationship between MEN, you will find no better read than this.

Shieldlock

https://f3nation.com/q/shield-lock/

SHIELD LOCK (Q1.7) - F3 Nation

Eyes to the side have the animals that hide. Eyes up front have the animals that hunt. Man’s eyes are up front. We are hunters not hiders. In fact, we are the apex predator of the Earth’s apex…

Back to The Forging Table. Every week, there will be a short essay, a link to a website post, or…whatever else, but every week there will be something here that will be for the sole purpose of bringing men together…another way for iron to sharpen iron. For this week it is Shield-lock (and no this cannot be part of your 15 minute challenge…unless you have the QSource book). This is by far the best read I have come across pertaining to the relationship men need for each other.

Courage

The title of this email stated, Could We Slay a Giant? The thought was that today we would talk about courage. The courage that it takes to overcome fears, do the right thing, to be a MAN in this world. This was going to be the takeaway for the week but I digressed before I could get to that and dont want this to get too long…SO…next week we will dive into the topic of Courage…Could We Slay a Giant? Hope to see you then. To be continued…

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Thank you again for your time and Stay Strange my friend!!