The Art of Manliness - Manvotionals - Brett McKay [57]
Suspended in the evening skies,
The shield of that red star.
O star of strength! I see thee stand
And smile upon my pain;
Thou beckonest with thy mailed hand,
And I am strong again.
Within my breast there is no light
But the cold light of stars;
I give the first watch of the night
To the red planet Mars.
The star of the unconquered will,
He rises in my breast,
Serene, and resolute, and still,
And calm, and self-possessed.
And thou, too, whosoe’er thou art,
That readest this brief psalm,
As one by one thy hopes depart,
Be resolute and calm.
O fear not in a world like this,
And thou shalt know erelong,
Know how sublime a thing it is
To suffer and be strong.
CHAPTER FIVE
SELF-RELIANCE
* * *
The cowboy. The frontiersman. The pioneer.
These images of manliness still strongly resonate with Western men because they represent an ideal and virtue they often feel lacking in their own lives—that of self-reliance.
Our pioneer forefathers hewed a life for themselves out of the untamed soil with nothing but their wits and the sweat of their brow. They needed very little, and what they did need, they made. If it broke, they fixed it. Their nearest neighbors could be a few dozen miles away and solitude was simply a part of life.
Today we live in a time when almost everything a man does can be outsourced to someone else. Need your oil changed? Take it to a mechanic. Have a leaky roof? Call a repairman. Need food? Order take-out.
Even your thinking can be outsourced. A man’s every musing can be posted on the Internet or texted to friends for immediate feedback. And answers to life’s questions seem to be only a Google search away.
While modern conveniences and technology have happily freed us from much of the drudgery, danger, and hardship that our forebearers faced on the frontier, these advancements have also left many men feeling disconnected from their lives. They are plagued with a disconcerting sense of restlessness, feeling as if they are floating through life, that life is happening to them and being orchestrated by others.
Self-reliance is the antidote to this anxious drift. Seeking this virtue need not involve trading in your car for a covered wagon, donning buckskin pants, and retiring to a cave in the mountains. Or even erasing the pizza delivery man’s number from your phone. Rather it’s about coming to understand that a while a boy depends on others for everything, a man is able to stand on his own two feet and make his own way. It’s about fostering the confidence that even if the whole world went to pot around you, you’d still have the resources and inner fortitude to carry on. It’s about cultivating the pioneering spirit and attitude at the core of your approach to life.
The self-reliant man doesn’t wait around for his dreams to come true or for someone to fix his problems. He gets started right away and figures it out for himself as he goes.
The self-reliant man lives simply and frugally, without needing stuff to make him happy and avoiding the chains of debt.
The self-reliant man doesn’t depend on others to validate his beliefs and decisions. He carves out his own path in life even if his ideas cut across the grain.
The self-reliant man enjoys associating with others, but can be perfectly content spending time in his own company.
In short, the self-reliant man enjoys supreme freedom and independence in all areas of his life. He is captain of his soul and master of his own destiny.
* * *
“Humility is the part of wisdom, and is most becoming in men. But let no one discourage self-reliance; it is, of all the rest, the greatest quality of true manliness.” —Louis Kossuth
What Is Meant by Self-Reliance?
FROM SELF-CULTURE & SELF-RELIANCE, 1869
By William Unsworth
The questions are naturally suggested, “What kind of culture is intended? And what is meant by self-reliance?” … By self-culture is intended the cultivation of the powers and faculties nature has given you, and that to the greatest degree your opportunities and circumstances will allow: