Neal Conan, the host of National Public Radio's great Talk of the Nation show, recently did a program on the topic of when a person becomes an adult. It's a great question when so many "young people" seem to be living a delayed adolescence . . . into their 30's and beyond.On the show Neal talks with three authors with books related to the topic, and a college professor doing research on the subject. They were trying to see if they could discern that "magic moment" when a person crosses the line into adulthood. To listen, click this link: Rites of Passage: When Are You an Adult?
The interview reminded me of the question I ask of the men who were contributing to the development of the Man-Making book. I asked them, "What was THE moment in your life when you knew, for sure, that you had become a man?" The responses were amazing. How would you answer that question?
Because most of us are living in cultures where we have lost track of how to solidly initiate young males into manhood, the heart-felt truths men revealed are not surprising. After thinking about your answer to that question, go to this link and read what other men have said about crossing the line into manhood.
If the exercise above stirs your male pot in some way, either click on the comment link below, or send me your answer to that question and I'll add it to those on the Man-Making website.
I became a man in an instant when I was 16. I broke my neck playing football in high school and was instantly thrust into a very different, new world. Paralyzed from mid-chest down, I grew up over the next seven and one-half months in three different hospitals.
ReplyDeleteEssentially, I spent my junior year of high school learning how to be an adult from doctors, nurses, therapists and aides in a world completely foreign to me.
One day in the physical therapy gym, while my therapist was doing range of motion, my doctor came in and gave me the best advice I have ever received. He told me I needed to learn everything about my condition I could because I was going to be in situations where people who were going to be responsible for taking care of me and they would not know what to do. He said I would have to tell those people what I needed and be able to explain how to do whatever it was I needed. That was in 1971 and I have never forgotten his advice.
It wasn't my choice, but I had to grow up in a hurry and be responsible for making the right decisions that would have a huge impact on me for the rest of my life.
(Check out Mike's great blog at:
http://iamnotdoneyet.blogspot.com/ - Earl)