TOUGH GUYS
I've written in various corners of daddylabyrinth about the legacy of being a tough guy, so this path is a bit of an oddball: a cannibalistic one––or should I say a Frankensteinian one––made up entirely of nodes from other paths.
This is appropriate, since the tough guy mentality is definitely a part of the patrilineage that I've struggled with. I don't want to raise my sons to be tough guys, because that paints them into a very small emotional corner. When you're a tough guy, every response you make to the world ultimately comes down to your own toughness. Every interaction comes down to whether, when push comes to shove, you can beat up the person who's shoving you. It's an extremely limited mentality, and not one that's particularly sustainable. (Men my age who still act like tough guys, for instance, are usually pretty pathetic.)
On the other hand, I don't want my kids to be walked over. I don't want them to run away from a challenge in fear. I don't want them to back down from a righteous fight.
So I guess this path is for you, kids. A series of meditations on toughness for you to contemplate as you grow up. There, let's leave it at that.
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