Thanks for your comment. I wanted to let it be and just see how the board voted on it.

And, I wanted to reflect on it. It's so utterly infused with a palpable emotional energy, I had to reflect on how exactly I would respond.

As I reflected on what you wrote, I came to feel sorry for you. It's seems pretty clear to me, from your comment, that you identified something you thought was weakness in my character and heart, something in which you thought you recognized a weakness that actually exists in your own character and heart (but which you're probably in denial about), and thus you felt the need to strike out at it. Why? Because you're actually afraid of (what you thought your saw in me) in yourself.

Sadly, you missed the point, and you projected a knee-jerk reaction emanating from within your own self, on to me. But the good news is, I think this is a great opportunity for you to learn, if you choose to adopt the opportunity. How? By reflecting on just how and why and what drove you to react and comment and put the frame on my experience that you did: weakness.

Don't be mistaken. YOU put the frame of weakness on to me and my post. It's not in me at all.

Some people think courage is the absence of fear. Such people are brittle, rigid, have little flexibility, and when the pressure is really on, they will break, and collapse, or simply melt down. Because they are afraid of fear, they suppress it, never confront it, never accept it, and pretend they just don't ever experience it.

But the real man of courage looks inward and recognizes the fear, but does not run from it. He sees it for what it is, allows it to be, but then finds even deeper resources from which he can rise above the fear, and act anyway.

Likewise, some people are simply afraid of certain emotions. They do everything they can to deny them, ignore them, and pretend they don't exist. But in reality, they are just scared.

I personally think you'll really benefit a WHOLE lot, if you re-read your comment here, and ask yourself these questions:

why am I telling myself to "stop being a pussy?"

Why am I telling myself to "grow up"?

Do I really see myself as a pussy? As a little boy?

Why do I think I have to be 'straightened out'?

It sounds to me that there may have been someone in your young life who projected all those things on to you, but only you will really know in the end.

However, we don't become mature by being told to "grow up". We become mature, and strong, by recognizing the seeds of strength and maturity that are struggling to grow, seeds that can easily be distorted or stunted by a failure to appreciate that it's actually OK to be young, and not strong, sometimes.

In fact, ONLY by being able to accept those things, can we ever really grow to maturity, and come into our own true strength, able to lift the weight of a very tragic, sad and lonely world.

I know a man who did this. Maybe you do to.

Good luck.

After note:

Yes, there may be situations where we have to 'grow up' in order to deal with an emergency or extraordinary situation. My dad was a case in point. He was 8 years old when the Nazis rolled into his country and took it over. He had to grow up real fast. Real fast.

But, tragically, this left scars that affected him his whole life, because he was unable to be that little 8 year old kid. And that's the truth. You cannot avoid it. You either grow properly then, or have to go back and fix it up later.

At some point, we ALL need to go back and heal those parts of ourselves that we suppressed, or ignored, or abused, because someone told us to "stop being a pussy". Otherwise, that part of us becomes permanently stunted. And, that can prevent us from seeing or understanding other things, such as the real strength it takes to be able to reflect, recognize one's inner emotional state, and share it to the world, without fear, and with courage.

Again, good luck to you.

Thanks for your comment. I wanted to let it be and just see how the board voted on it.

And, I wanted to reflect on it. It's so utterly infused with a palpable emotional energy, I had to reflect on how exactly I would respond.

As I reflected on what you wrote, I came to feel sorry for you. It's seems pretty clear to me, from your comment, that you identified something you thought was weakness in my character and heart, something in which you thought you recognized a weakness that actually exists in your own character and heart (but which you're probably in denial about), and thus you felt the need to strike out at it. Why? Because you're actually afraid of (what you thought your saw in me) in yourself.

Sadly, you missed the point, and you projected a knee-jerk reaction emanating from within your own self, on to me. But the good news is, I think this is a great opportunity for you to learn, if you choose to adopt the opportunity. How? By reflecting on just how and why and what drove you to react and comment and put the frame on my experience that you did: weakness.

Don't be mistaken. YOU put the frame of weakness on to me and my post. It's not in me at all.

Some people think courage is the absence of fear. Such people are brittle, rigid, have little flexibility, and when the pressure is really on, they will break, and collapse, or simply melt down. Because they are afraid of fear, they suppress it, never confront it, never accept it, and pretend they just don't ever experience it.

But the real man of courage looks inward and recognizes the fear, but does not run from it. He sees it for what it is, allows it to be, but then finds even deeper resources from which he can rise above the fear, and act anyway.

Likewise, some people are simply afraid of certain emotions. They do everything they can to deny them, ignore them, and pretend they don't exist. But in reality, they are just scared.

I personally think you'll really benefit a WHOLE lot, if you re-read your comment here, and ask yourself these questions:

why am I telling myself to "stop being a pussy?"

Why am I telling myself to "grow up"?

Do I really see myself as a pussy? As a little boy?

Why do I think I have to be 'straightened out'?

It sounds to me that there may have been someone in your young life who projected all those things on to you, but only you will really know in the end.

However, we don't become mature by being told to "grow up". We become mature, and strong, by recognizing the seeds of strength and maturity that are struggling to grow, seeds that can easily be distorted or stunted by a failure to appreciate that it's actually OK to be young, and not strong, sometimes.

In fact, ONLY by being able to accept those things, can we ever really grow to maturity, and come into our own true strength, able to lift the weight of a very tragic, sad and lonely world.

I know a man who did this. Maybe you do to.

Good luck.

After note:

Yes, there may be situations where we have to 'grow up' in order to deal with an emergency or extraordinary situation. My dad was a case in point. He was 8 years old when the Nazis rolled into his country and took it over. He had to grow up real fast. Real fast.

But, tragically, this left scars that affected him his whole life, because he was unable to be that little 8 year old kid. And that's the truth. You cannot avoid it. You either grow properly then, or have to go back and fix it up later.

At some point, we ALL need to go back and heal those parts of ourselves that we suppressed, or ignored, or abused, because someone told us to "stop being a pussy". Otherwise, that part of us becomes permanently stunted. And, that can prevent us from seeing or understanding other things, such as the real strength it takes to be able to reflect, recognize one's inner emotional state, and share it to the world, without fear, and with courage.

Again, good luck.

Thanks for your comment. I wanted to let it be and just see how the board voted on it.

And, I wanted to reflect on it. It's so utterly infused with a palpable emotional energy, I had to reflect on how exactly I would respond.

Sad to say it, but I feel sorry for you. It's seems pretty clear to me, from your comment, that you identified something you thought was weakness in my character and heart, something in which you recognize a weakness that actually exists in your own character and heart, and thus you felt the need to strike out at it. Why? Because you're actually afraid of (what you thought your saw in me) in yourself.

Sadly, you missed the point, and you projected a knee-jerk reaction emanating from within your own self, on to me. But the good news is, I think this is a great opportunity for you to learn, if you choose to adopt the opportunity. How? By reflecting on just how and why and what drove you to react and comment and put the frame on my experience that you did: weakness.

Some people think courage is the absence of fear. Such people are brittle, rigid, have little flexibility, and when the pressure is really on, they will break, and collapse, or simply melt down. Because they are afraid of fear, they suppress it, never confront it, never accept it, and pretend they just don't ever experience it.

But the real man of courage looks inward and recognizes the fear, but does not run from it. He sees it for what it is, allows it to be, but then finds even deeper resources from which he can rise above the fear, and act anyway.

I personally think you'll really benefit a WHOLE lot, if you re-read your comment here, and ask yourself the question:

why am I telling myself to "stop being a pussy?"

Why am I telling myself to "grow up"?

Do I really see myself as a pussy? As a little boy?

Why do I think I have to be 'straightened out'?

It sounds to me that there may have been someone in your young life who projected all those things on to you.

But we don't become mature by being told to "grow up". We become mature, and strong, by recognizing the seeds of strength and maturity that are struggling to grow, seeds that can easily be distorted or stunted by a failure to appreciate that it's actually OK to be young, and not strong, sometimes.

In fact, ONLY by being able to accept those things, can we ever really grow to maturity, and come into our own true strength, able to lift the weight of a very tragic, sad and lonely world.

I know a man who did this. Maybe you do to.

Good luck.