It’s so good to see a shift in the male psyche to be more open, more attuned to dropping the guard, more open to love and all that good stuff. Right?
We’ve done the hardened male, the sensitive male and all that, it’s time to be both. Sensitive and tough. Authentic, open, strong, vulnerable and resilient.
But we’ve still got a ways to go. Male suicide is still 3-1 to females, and have had an influx of older males learning to meditate of late (which is epic) that are struggling with life, depression, anxiety, and life’s lost its sheen. A lot don’t tell their mates as they reckon they’d not understand when they’ve broached the subject of looking to change, be more positive and try new things it has been met with some negativity, or jovial “oh going all new-age on us”.
And this my friends is the problem. And a big one.
It leads most of us, males, to bottle it up and battle on, as our Aussie jester-like ways, we’re more inclined to take the piss, throw some old school one-liners, like, toughen up soldier, let’s have a beer and watch the footy type of thing rather than talk about stuff that makes us potentially uncomfortable. (Side-note, I love football, and I know that’s a sweeping male generalisation, but you get the idea).
This old school mentality doesn’t help anyone, it’s got to go and slowly is. You look at the amazing young men out there today. Embracing aspects of life that a lot of my generation and older would have laughed at 20 years ago. The shackles are slowly releasing.
So let’s keep the light moving forward, loves the go, we all know it. Be open when a mate needs a hand, listen, hold your tongue if it’s not something that you would do and just hear them out, they don’t need your judgment and a lot of time not even your thoughts on a matter. They just want a mate who they can talk to about the internal world, the stuff that truly matters. An open mind and open ears to hear them out.
As listening is so underrated but so needed.
Because if we don’t shift the elder statesman mindsets, we’ll keep having more of males succumbing to the black dog (depression). No one is exempt, from the successful to the struggling. This dog bites and bites hard.
And if you’re struggling, find a good mate, be vulnerable – we’ve all been in dark places and it takes the strong to step up. If you can’t find a friend, see a professional, And I’d highly encourage you to start a meditation practice. So much science showing it helps.
Life’s too short to stay in those places and it’s through our cracks that the light starts to come in.
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