I’d love to say I’m a grown man, but only a boy could make that claim and believe it. That said, here’s what else I’ve learned from 27 years of boyhood:
- Men express their important feelings and swallow the unimportant ones. Boys do vice versa.
- Men improve to be better than themselves, not other men. Boys compete against boys.
- Men can wait. Boys complain.
- Men know when to be men and when to be boys. Boys always want to be men.
- Men live in reality and act in good faith. Boys live in their dreams and don’t act at all.
- Men take time. Boys are busy.
- Men say “I don’t know.” Boys say “I think X.”
- Men know they’re just men. Boys think they’re heroes.
- Men want to deserve, boys just want.
- Men listen. Boys talk.
- Men give credit, boys take it.
- Men want to win, boys need to.
- Men are kind. Boys are kind when it’s convenient.
- Men rely on humans, boys rely on gimmicks.
- Men trust. Boys hedge.
- Men are soft in life and tough at work. Boys are vice versa.
- Men work with what they’ve got. Boys wait for what they haven’t.
- Men choose and sacrifice. Boys compromise and settle.
- Men take responsibility, no matter who’s at fault. Boys blame others, even for their own shortcomings.
What’s most surprising is that not one of these has to do with age. The only thing that fascinates me even more is that you can replace “men” with “women” and “boys” with “girls” and it all still makes perfect sense.