“No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself” ― Seneca

If I say, “Baseball _______ (blank)

You might say, “___ Bat.” Or, “Glove.” Or, “Player.”

Now if I showed you a picture of… all that rolled into one… you might say, ‘Oh yeah, that looks like a ball player, look at the stadium he’s in, look at his glove, cleats and uni. Look at his motions, because of where he is standing he is obviously, a pitcher.”

And I would happily (and not a little to proudly) agree with you.

That particular young man was allowed the opportunity to prove himself at every level of competition he made it to, (up to college) that he indeed was a baseball player. With out a doubt.

I have to admit during the course of my journey searching for success I have not had my eyes opened to my personal adversities that prove to myself that I am a man.

With a baseball bat, a sword, an arrow or a man… adversity and stress need to be applied in order to produce enough of a challenge in order to test the metals weld, the bats grain, the arrows flight, or what picture a man holds himself to be on the inside.

In an interview with Joe Rogan, on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Teddy Atlas, the first boxing trainer of Mike Tyson, said, (paraphrased) “Regardless of what his true record is, say it is 50 – 5. In my book he is really 0 – 5. Let me explain. Mike never got over his upbringing. He used to hide between the walls of abandoned buildings to escape the bullies. A fight isn’t a fight until there is something to overcome. To be a warrior, a samurai, you need to have that inside of you. You need to believe that is you. He didn’t have that. Until their is true adversity you never know for sure. Until the time comes when you have to find a way to do what you have to do… you never know yourself for sure.”

The trauma in my life that I feel have truly affected me are…

1. The lack of a relationship with my dad
2. Being ‘held’ down and sexual abused on some level when I was six or seven.

But let me run these by you, are these the proofs and test of a man…

• car accidents = 3, crashes really, and one blown tire spin out,
• been knocked out, choked out and blacked out,
• hit four deer with two vehicles, had one deer hit me,
• dirt bike accident, ended up in the hospital, pain so bad and concussed to the point of puking my guts out,
• a handful of fist fights, while learning to box I said, “I’m comfortable with your jab missing.” My coach said, “You shouldn’t be that comfortable being that close.”
• 40 hour a week worker,
• 3 start up side businesses… started and either outright failed or never really took off,
• 1 wife, 5 kids, 5 dogs, 3 cats, turtles and squirrels, (waiting on the first grand kid!)
• learning and dealing, or dealt with… depression, OCD, anxiety, being overweight and self-doubt……………..

The mental picture that I had of myself was one of a teacher, a sage, wise old guy or kung fu master (even though I don’t know any kung fu), a wisdom imparter.

On my recent 50th birthday I was filled with joy all day. I never even really pay attention to my birthday. This year was different. I felt like, “I made it!”

I didn’t know exactly what I made it to… until… God showed me.

As a sword is being made and forged in the fire, the building and shaping process apply one kind of heat, stress and pressure. And then… it’s cooled. Another stressor. And then… it’s fitted handle to tang. Another stressor. And then… it is honed to a bone crushing, skull splitting edge. Another stressor. And then… it is put to the final test. Before it can go into battle… the final, final test.

For the samurai katana it was called the “Tameshigiri,” or “test cut,” see the attached article.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/08/31/tameshigiri/

In his book ‘As A Man Thinketh,’ James Allen writes, “Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there…”

I keep ‘thinking’ I am not much of a man… and so that’s how I feel.

In His Word, God says,