Men and Emotions

I'm working through a series and workbook about Men and Emotions; and came across this general perspective of the author:

Traditional Male Traits- Positive and Negative

Traits Men Consider Worth Preserving
-Willingness to work hard and sacrifice to provide for family
-Withstanding hardship and pain to protect others
-Showing affection through action-doing for others
-Integrity and Loyalty
-Persistence in solving difficult problems
-Ability to take risks and stay calm in dangerous situations

Problem Traits
-Emotional numbness-difficulty in feeling, identifying, and expressing emotions
-Inability to feel and respond to emotions of others
-Overindulgence in anger and violence
-Simultaneous dependence on, and distance from, female partners
-Fear and shame of failure to "be a man."
-Exaggerated investment in work
-Disregard for health risks
-Substituting unconnected lust for sexual intimacy

Life is all about parenting.

A friend sent me this interesting article on marriages (an answer to a frustrated- aging- woman who couldn't understand what men are looking for and fed up with them not taking action); and the meaning of the marital vocation.

I don't agree with everything he has to say (but with many points I do agree); but one line that caught my attention was when he that the whole purpose of life is parenting.

I hadn't thought of it so bluntly- but I totally agree. We image God so much in our passing on of physical, emotional, and spiritual life to others. We are meant to become holy (aka "Like God") by bringing forth new life. Not all parenting is biological- not even the most important (though it's VERY important)- but if you do not grow up to be a parent- you are missing out on God's call to you to be holy.

Here's the article link.

Palin' On...

Here are some numbers from Glen Beck's website about the impact Sarah has been having in the race:

----------------------

Sifting through a bunch of the numbers, including a Survey USA poll, looking back at the Palin speech. I’ve had a few of my friends/acquaintances/arch enemies say they think she came off as “catty”. They were apparently in the minority.

Some also have said, she helps Obama because they raised a few million bucks. Well, McCain did as well, and now we’re seeing double digit swings (from -7 to +4 in a USA Today poll—an 11 point swing, McCain is now +10 among likely voters.) Who knows what happens from here, but it’s safe to say the Palin introduction exceeded anyone’s expectations (just like the surge did for Barack Obama apparently).

Here are some stats:

- Grading the speech: 60% gave it an A, only 8% an F.

- Above/below average grades 71%-17%.

- Men: 69-19, Women 73-16.

- Ages 18-34 : 62-27

- Ages 35-49 : 79-13 !

- White: 64% gave it an A, 6% an F.

- African-American: 38% gave it an A, 17% an F. I think the last time a republican gave a speech that African-Americans gave a love/hate ratio of over 2 to 1 was by Abraham Lincoln.

- How about this for a stat? 62% of Hispanic voters gave Palin an A. ZERO percent gave her an F. 62 to ZERO. - (By the way, let me remind you that Telemundo and Univision didn’t carry the speech—so ALL of these people had to watch on English speaking networks. Thanks guys.)

- Republicans graded her positively by a 92-6 ratio.

-Independents 68-17.

-EVEN DEMOCRATS 43-35.

- Conservatives graded her positively by a 88-10 ratio.

-Moderates 65-19.

-EVEN LIBERALS WERE SPLIT 39% positive, 40% negative.

- Over 40k income: 75-15 positive. Under 40k, 62-23 positive.

- Independent voters nationwide were split on whether Palin was an asset or a liability to McCain's campaign. Today, by a 2:1 margin, independents say Palin is an asset. Overnight, the percentage calling the Alaska governor an asset to the campaign climbed 13 points; the percentage calling her a liability fell 17 points. The numbers are similar among moderates, who 24 hours ago viewed Palin as a liability by an 11 point margin; today, Palin is seen as an asset by an 18 point margin.

- By a 2:1 ratio, voters believe Palin is an asset to the ticket, and that it reflects positively on McCain that he chose her. - And on a related Palin note, considering her media coverage: Who is the media rooting for? People correctly recognize they’re rooting for Obama by about a 7 TO 1 RATIO. 54% to 8%.

7 Keys to the Spiritual Life from Father Corapi

This week on his weekly online "weekly wisdom" segment; Father Corapi gave what he feels are seven foundational keys to growing in the spiritual life:

1. Humility
2. Detachment
3. Simplicity
4. Trust
5. Silence
6. A relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit which then brings forth oneness with the Lord Jesus Christ
7. Love of the Cross of Christ.