You need Community!
I had made a commitment to blog each week and I see it’s now been almost 2 months since my last blog. Ugh! Where does the time go? Oh, I know one place it goes and that is spending time building our Face It community! One of the themes that I have seen repeatedly with my work here at Face It, is that far too many men lack community. Yes, they have places they hang out, like bars, golf courses, work, auto shows, fishing, etc., but what they often identify as missing is the sense of “belonging.”
I am no sociologist, but I think the sense of belonging comes from finding a community where you can be your true self and you don’t have to put on the “tough guy” mask or even the “everything is fine” mask. So, it’s not that you can’t find your community at the bowling alley or on the lake, but if you’re in these places and trying to be someone or something that you’re not, well you’ll never feel like you fit in.
One of the wonderful things about Face It is the moment you walk in the door to our community, everyone knows that you have had struggles. Everyone likely has a pretty good sense of what it feels like to be on the outside looking in, to feel as though you’re worthless, or to just want life to go away or end. They’re no pretenses here. There is no need to say everything is okay, when in fact it’s not. You certainly don’t have to act tough here and if you do, odds are some guy will call you out on your macho bullshit anyway.
I tried desperately for many years to make sure everyone thought I had my life under control, that I was always happy, and that I didn’t have a care in the world. For the record, that didn’t turn out so well for me. Now? I have people in life who I can openly acknowledge and share with that I have struggles. I have about 40 of these people in the groups I lead here and I have some very special people in my life who I can now be very honest around with my fears and worries. I have found my community!
If you’re looking for a place to feel as though you belong in the face of your challenges, you need to look no further than Face It!
Peace!
Mark