How Guys Think…. (err at least how I think that we think)
Tales from the Outback
How Guys Think…. (err at least how I think that we think)
“My kids are doing this. My kids are doing that.” I hear all the time. Can raising kids really fulfill a man’s quest for destiny? Is this the final stop in the journey to “The Big Search”? As one who hasn’t been there, I can’t help but wonder…I’ll try to tie that back in later in this narrative, but at this moment I’m pulled off on the side of I-90 at 4:43 AM at the approach of an old friend called Bigfoot Road, compelled to put thought to paper. What is it that pushes men to get up and do the things we do? What could possibly keep the sweatshop workers or the subsistence farmers from gouging out their eyeballs with a set of chop-sticks? How do they make it without that singular piece of light at the end of the tunnel we call hope?
I suspect it has to do with an individual’s age?? From the ages 18 to 32 we men remain locked in the quest for female conquest. The entire male experience, near as I can tell, during this period is rack up the “booty-count” whether we are conscious of it or not. Even us fellas largely unsuccessful in this endeavor remain complicit in the pursuit during this era in one’s life. Even if it’s garnering a flirtatious smile from the checkout clerk at the corner Gas-N-Grub, it’s the primal exploration for the next conquest that makes the day worth living.
Once a man reaches the age of 30 he goes through an awkward phase where the body rejects the original hunt and the mind replaces the original chase with a new one called “wealth accumulation”. Just like the “booty-count” it matters not whether the bank account actually grows or falls, its only the pursuit that matters.
At some point during this tail/money chasing endeavor, a man simply has to wonder if this is all life is about. Luckily, every now and then, true happiness is achieved when another creature actually bends over backwards for the sole reason to please you. This heart-melting moment might be when your golden lab obeys your command to not fetch until you want him to. For me it’s when a colt performs a rollback on the slightest cue. Not because you I make him, not because he’s robot-ically responding to repetition, but only because he wants to make you happy.
It’s clear as a bell that true happiness must involve another living creature, and your mutual-bond to it. Everything else is just noise.
