#ManTalk

I love me a good read so when I got my hands on Steve Harvey's Straight Talk, No Chaser I couldn't put it down and I love the insights Harvey shares.

 

If you enjoyed reading Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man, then I assure you, you will love Straight Talk. Harvey gives us some awesome wisdom on the male species. I felt compelled to share some of the excerpts in this book that young men and women of this X/Y generation need to hear on matters marriage/love. I am a strong believer that God is raising Himself a remnant of young people who will choose to take a stand and declare that despite and in spite of all the negativity surrounding the institution, we will make it work. Since I'm still reading it, this will be an ongoing post - well at least till I get to the last page :-). Here goes my maiden attempt at #ManTalk with the help of Harvey of course. Enjoy.

Learn How To Be A Man because getting into marriage without truly discovering & embracing who you are as a man will cost you dearly. Harvey says going into his first and second marriages without really discovering himself and what it meant to be a man led to broken hopes/dreams/hearts. He asks a very profound question - "How could she know me if I didn’t know myself?" Picture taking this lovely young lady & in front of family, friends & God promising to love and care for her till the Lord calls you home and you have zero idea who you are...that sends chills down my spine.

•  "By then, we were able to put our finger on what was missing—what was dooming my first marriage even before the spit on the stamps we put on those invitations was dry: I didn’t know who I was, what I would do with my life, and how much I was going to make doing it".
• "....that we have to learn how to be men before we can be anything to anyone who wants to love us—and certainly before we can love them back. But once we get it right? We come to something close to completion, the thing that makes men want to be better, not only for ourselves, but for the people we love".
• "learn how to be a man first. Then find the right woman who can bring out the best in you—make you better. Marriage is not a death sentence. It’s a completion".

Marriage Is A Good Thing but the current trend of young people dancing their way into marriage and frantically fleeing out after a short time can scare any well meaning individual. During a discussion on matters marriage a few days back, the men in our midst admitted that fear of commitment is a huge hurdle that every man has to overcome. Making a lifetime commitment to love, care for and build a life together is no walk in the park. They told us that for most men, they find it safer to watch things from the sidelines than take the plunge into marriage. Here's what Harvey says:

• "Indeed, among men, conversations related to the ins and outs of marriage become conversations based on bravado and jokes, rather than the truth, which is that a marriage—one built on love, respect, loyalty, and trust—is the best thing that could ever happen to a man".
• "Hill Harper pointed this out on a relationships round table we did together on Nightline; Hill, an actor who’s written a few outstanding books on communication between men and women, insisted that single men would benefit greatly if married men admitted publicly that behind closed doors, they are saying to themselves and their wives, “Thank God for marriage. Thank God for my family. Thank God somebody supports me and patches me together so I can go to work the next day".