1. A man needs to learn something new every day.
2. Men don't smash their fellow man.
The twins of a deranged serial murderer grew up. One got heavy into drinking, drugs and basically being a social miscreant, culminating in finally murdering a guy over some petty reason. The other twin made his way through school, earning a degree, and running a small business that flourished. Two guys. The same genetic make up. They asked both, one from his office desk, the other through the glass of a prison visiting room, “Why do you think you turned out the way you did?”
They both responded with basically the same answer,
“Look at my father, what else was I supposed to do?”
3. It’s every man for himself.
4. A man takes chances.
5. A man is persistent.
6. A man is honest with himself.
7. A man figures it out himself.
I learned a huge life lesson when meeting one of my heroes, Chuck Palahniuk. As someone who loves to read and write and fight, I was anxious to meet the author of one of the Gospels of Man: Fight Club.
want to write badass books too after I'm done risking my brain in the cage, so after the lecture I hopped in line to ask Chuck a question.
When I finally arrived, I came face to face with a short, tan, smart-looking man in a pink shirt. His demeanor was focused and he had an air of flamboyant awesomeness that probably comes when you write books that Hollywood makes into movies.
I introduced myself, and poured my heart out on how his book sent my life in a crazy right turn, inspiring me to channel my youthful aggression into fighting. After that, I stammered through some specific questions I wanted answered, and first he gave half-ass answers that said "I'm tired, beat it." Then he deflected them, and focused on the fact I was a fighter. He gave me the advice, "Be careful, don't get a detached retina."
Yeah, thanks a lot for the tip pal. I didn't come here to receive an ophthalmological exam.
Dejected, I walked back out to the busy L.A. street and yelled "CHUCK PALAHNIUK DIDN'T TEACH ME S---!!!!!"
On the way back to the car, I was thinking more and more about the meeting, then I realized something. Without words, Chuck was saying something much larger. He was saying, “Figure it out your f---ing self. I didn’t work my ass off to be an awesome writer just to give out the knowledge for free to some mouth-breather with cauliflower ear!”
I got it, Chuck.
If you can’t learn from an experience, it’s because you haven’t thought about it hard enough. I thought about this one and figured out that it’s up to you to have the courage to risk your ass trying to make your dreams come true. If you quit shy of your goals, you’re the only one that has to live with it.
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