One of the biggest clichés in modern developed societies, especially the western ones, is that “men must be successful”. 

What comes to mind immediately is the stereotype of the successful man, of the man who has “made it” out there in the big wide world. In particular, the North American societies go so far as comparing the successful man, whom they define as a “winner”, with the unsuccessful one, whom they condemn as a “loser”. 

This following exploration of this myth of success continues from a previous posting wherein I began referring to the REALITY that lies behind certain ingrained myths about the male. 

http://www.institute-for-the-study-of-man.com/articles/item/113-quest-for-maleness-br-reality-and-myth

One of the biggest clichés in modern developed societies, especially the western ones, is that “men must be successful”. 

But the reality that lies behind this myth is far simpler. The reality is that the male must be ever practical; otherwise he runs the danger of becoming lost within the chaos of the unknown!!

The first implication of this reality is that the male is indeed willing to enter the unknown with an open heart first, in search of his true purpose in life. Therefore, he needs to realise that it is up to him not only to provide the female in his life with the correct lead, but also to point out the direction to be followed and the method to be employed. 

The practical application of this simple reality is vast. It covers many endeavours of my everyday life, endeavours that may be so subtle that I miss the fact that there exists the need for intelligent co-operation between the male and the female. 

Recently, I needed to find a new maid to take care of both my work and my living place. The previous lady that had been working for me had never paused to ask for my input, even about the slightest thing! So I was used to not being “bothered” to consider anything that had to do with her line of work.

The new lady, in the beginning, started coming to me with questions about almost everything. Initially, I was greatly irritated and I was jumping to conclusions that she didn’t know much about her work, or that she wasn’t really good at it!!

 It took me a while to figure out that she was asking for direction from me!! LOL!  Her line of questioning had been coming from a sense of genuine care about me and about my place?  Exactly because she is so good at her work, she was looking for the best possible way to be of service to me! Therefore, instead of becoming irritated, I should have been grateful and co-operative! 

Once I had the above realisation, the level of co-operation between us accelerated - and the flow of energy between us became truly life supportive?

 It was still all about the small details around my place, however, the sum total of all these details put together made all the difference in the world. My experience in my living and working space has greatly improved and I realise that in the past I have been neglecting a very important aspect of my everyday life. 

With warmth,
Sotirios Galanopoulos