Thursday, July 9, 2009

A Good Guys Truth

Quite often I am accosted by single women with complaints of their not being enough good men "out there". Usually, I have the patience to just humor them and tell them everything is going to be alright. I tell them that they are too good for their ex or that in time they will find the person they are looking for, however, the other day an older man in the gym said something that resonated with me. "Brian", he said while rubbing beads of sweat off his brow, "a friend is a person who tells it like it is. Not how it should be." Then his lifting buddy, a slight man with sixty years of wisdom and probably sixty gray strands of hair, joined the discussion. "My mother used to say the wounds of omission cut a lot deeper than the wounds of the truth...and they take a lot more time to heal." So in lieu of these two very very truthful statements, I must now be very very true. Here it goes:

Dear Women,

I know this doesn't apply to all of you and there are many of you who don't need to hear this. Sadly though, there are many many more of you who do. All the nights you sat by the phone waiting for him to call, all the nights spent staining satin pillows with the salt of your tears...it is all YOUR fault. You and only you are to blame for the problems you have encountered in relationships. Forgive me if I sound harsh but I know of no other way to deliver sound a message. The truth is, many, NOT ALL, but many women suffer not from a lack of options but from a lack of maturity. There truly are a vast amount of good, hard-working, god-fearing, "I can bring him home to meet my parents" type of men "out there". The problem is simply that what you say you want and what you constantly decide to have are in constant opposition to one another. For the younger sect of women who say they want a nice guy, tell me then why you break your neck and run off the next woman to be with the man with no job, no prospects, and no ambition? Perhaps such an inexplicable behavior lends itself to the poisonous notion that you can "fix" a man. Take it from a man, you can not. You are all beautiful inside and out, but frankly there doesn't exist a single woman on Earth that "makes me wanna be a better man". Putting a new coat of paint on a house doesn't keep the termites from eating its rotting foundation. Change always comes from within and then radiates outward. A man will change when a MAN DECIDES it is time for him to change. Not because of your handy work. Use some of your common sense and stop looking to change a bad situation into a good one....and just look for a good situation. And if, by chance, you still find yourself wanting something that cant be tamed...go ride a wild horse.
It is true that men have our issues, but you exacerbate things by becoming willing enablers to all the drama. In fact, it is a distinct lack of maturity that draws the women I am referring to toward drama. You seem to crave it. A woman once told me that if a relationship is completely devoid of drama its boring. Obviously, she has not stepped into the real world. OUT HERE in the real world there are plenty of dramatic things and as one of the real and good men you claim to seek I can tell you that as hard as life can be for a man, a real man doesn't want to come home to a storm in his relationship. In fact, a real man doesn't look to cause the people he loves any unnecessary strife. Children fight. Adults communicate.
Speaking of communication, I want to take some time in this letter to ask questions rather than open wounds. Why be with someone who is not equipped emotionally to handle an adult relationship? Is it because you aren't? Why be with someone who is verbally abusive? Do you believe so little in yourself that nurturing conversation hurts you? If the thug life doesn't appeal to you, why chase after those who fit its image? If you can't bring him to your parents home, why even bring him to yours?
Remember that we are the exact mirror image of that which we pursue. If you are in pursuit of those who just arent that good then its time to evaluate you. So when I told you that you were too good for your ex, I apologize for lying to a multitude of friends. You were just as good as him. You deserved him. And until you begin to wise up and break whatever chains constrain you to this behavior, he is all that you deserve. I am not saying this to ruffle your feathers or because I am jaded. I am saying it because I love each and every one of you. There are good men out there and in time you may open your eyes to the many standing right in front of you, but you'll never deserve better than what you are.

Love,

Brian

1 comment:

She's Savvy said...

Great post! You are definitely wise beyond your years. It's unfortunate that there are so many women out there with baggage and low self-esteem issues who tend to cling to these wrong men.

This leads them to think/say that there are no good men. By constantly saying that, they are putting the negative energy out there and continuing to attract the same kind of men. I agree with you in that the truth is there are plenty of good men out there, these women just don’t know how to attract them.

With that said, women are not the only ones at fault. When women are enablers in allowing men to treat them in such a way, some men think traditionally unacceptable behavior is somehow acceptable and thus the cycle continues.