Duality of Masculinity

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Since the beginning of time, Man has desired to protect. Every man that looks deep within realises that. But a man is born weak and the weak can't protect anything. So man equips himself with strength, but he can't just wish it into existence. So he strives for it, struggles for it and bleeds for it just so he could attain it. By the time he attains it, his body is that of a seasoned warrior and his mind of a sage. But if only it was that simple, then everyone would be strong.

Because power can be consuming, it can make you drunk on its own exertion.

There are only two ways in which power can be achieved.

1) Through Competence

2) Through Corruption

The biggest problem that you should worry about is that even if you attain power by exhibiting competence, you can still become corrupt. The corruption that I talk about is corruption of the soul, that is where it starts. When you allow yourself to compromise on your values, you also allow corruption to take root in your heart. Slowly but perniciously it contaminates your soul despite your soul's disgusted rejection towards it.

It takes one step into your soul and stops as soon as it could trigger the emergency alarm in your heart. This way, over the span of years, there is nothing there that even slightly resembles you. After one is totally corrupt, one can't stand others not being corrupt because it reminds him of his own corruption. One can't stand virtue, only vices. So he orders obedience and demands compliance from everyone else and if anyone refuses, he slays them or worse tortures them to show the cruel reality of disobedience.

That is the spirit of the totalitarian on display.

This is exactly how a tyrant thinks, he presumes he alone knows what is best for everyone and if only he gets to implement what he thinks, everything would be perfect. But he doesn't understand that what is heaven for someone could be hell for another and vice versa. Not that he cares because there is no room for improvement, not for him. That is his delusion.

Man is both hero and a tyrant, capable of both good and bad.

The way to avoid being a tyrant is to know and understand that you are capable of being one and then acting in order to prevent that from happening. The only way to do that is to know what you're dealing with. Know your enemy, know the tyrant within you.

Keep the tyrant within you at bay and the hero in you will emerge. The hero in you is powerful, virtuous and competent. It protects what is precious and dear to him, be it his family and friends, his soul or even something as simple as his dream. Just as you have the capacity to be a tyrant, you also have the capacity to be a hero.

To me, that's the highest form of man. Someone that takes responsibility for not only himself but for what is precious to him and does what needs to be done without expecting a reward in return.

Even though I do believe, people like that should be rewarded. That is the kind of power we strive for. Afterall, it's not like power is only bad, it can be either good or bad depending on how you wield it. The truth is, power doesn't corrupt. It only allows you to reveal your truest self.

Seek competence, not corruption.

See ya next time :)

P.S. - Choosing art for this is harder than writing the whole thing;)