Story #9 was a tricky story for me to share because my mother was at the center of the story. I dont know about you, but Im still scared of my mom and dont want to shine a negative light on her. So I did my best to stick to the facts as I experienced them and not assigning any blame. Actually I recommend this practice of not assigning blame, doing so robs you of your power. Now this blame thing isnt the lesson in Story #9. 

The lesson is that our youth are under constant influence, and we need to be hyper aware of the way we are influencing them. Im talking about the every day regular moments. Like when youre chatting with your friends or consuming content them younglings are watching and soaking it all in.

I know I was, mom was a single mom and did all the heroic things single mothers do. She raised me with a different set of values. What I mean by this is a set of values that was great for nurturing community, fair play, and turning the other cheek. Which in an ideal world these values are nice, but in the world I was growing up in as a young man these values were a source of resentment. These values were coupled with a superficial understanding of what a high value man is. I picked this up by listening to her conversations with other single mothers. I know she did not intend to shape my thinking in this way. But listening to them bash men and only celebrate them base don their income, vehicle, and nice clothes led to me establishing a low bar for what it meant to be a man.

This thinking left me ill prepared to be a Man. Which bled into my expectations of women and all my relationships in general. I couldnt understand why people werent satisfied with my accolades, they wanted more from me and I didnt know how to share that. So my relationships eroded and my resentments grew. And guess what I did?

Well I doubled down on my work and focused on my career, which only reinforced my problems. I developed some strong unhealthy boundaries. All of the boundaries were designed to protect my feelings by keeping people out. Vulnerability was not a concept I even considered. Ive learned the value of vulnerability and healthy boundaries. This has allowed so much Joy into my life that I want everyone else to experience it. So I want to invite you, your friends, your co-workers, and your family members to the upcoming Workshop on Boundaries. If you Sign up and share widely know that you are putting a big gigantic smile on my face:

The Value of Boundaries Online workshop 

You know I have a tendency to want something for people with out even asking them. So I would love to know, are you on the path to Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be