Men's Fashion (snicker)

I saw a piece the other day about Men’s Fashion and fall trends.  It kind of made me laugh.  The ‘trends’ that they were showing caused me to say “What kind of man would wear that?”.

To be frank the term “men’s fashion” makes me sort of chuckle.  Not that I don’t think that a guy should care about how he dresses and looks, because I do. I think it is very important.  I also think that if you were to ask a guy what designer suit he is wearing, the correct answer should be “I don’t know”. Because that should not matter to a guy.

All decisions I make regarding the clothes I wear follow these basic five rules:

1. Dress Right for the occasion
2. Look your best for that occasion
3. Your clothes should fit
4. Clothes should match
5. Your attire should present the best possible YOU that it can.

People vs. Programs

Lately I’ve had time to consider the various programs of the church and to, quite honestly, evaluate their worth and value to the members.   The conclusions that I’ve come to have surprised me.

It all started with a meeting that I had regarding the status of our YM. To be brutally honest, our ward has not had a good track record of cranking out worthy, temple bound young men who are ready to serve in the Melchizedek Priesthood, go on missions and marry in the temple.  I’d quote you the statistics, but they are too depressing.

So we held this discussion as to what to do about it.  After discussing all the programs we have available to the YM and what we might be able to do…we didn’t come up with any good ideas.  One comment that was made really struck me to the core though…it was made by our Bishop when he stated “When I’m sitting in the front of the chapel and I look over the congregation, I don’t see happy people. Living the gospel should make us happy, shouldn’t it?”

Of course the reply to that is YES! We should be the happiest people on the earth.  We have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ…we should be ecstatic!

So what’s the deal?

Rules for Fitness and Nutrition

I consider many things to be completely bogus when it comes to fitness and health.  I decided to make up a list of them. 

SO…

Here is my list of what I consider bogus, harmful and plain old silly health practices and fads: (feel free  to disagree with me…but know that I’ve done some fairly extensive research of FACTS as well as having a lot of experience regarding several of these and find no legitimate reason to believe or follow any of it. This list is by no means complete, there are lots of fitness frauds out there, these are just the most popular that I have a particular level of disdain for.)

Crushing It...and Paying for It

I always feel like the HULK when I lift hard.

I crushed my workout this morning.

I’ve been sidelined by a knee injury. And I’ve been slowly working my way back to full strength.

How did I hurt my knee?  I’m not 100% sure.  I probably just overdid my summer.  Running, mountain climbing, backpacking, canyoneering, mountain biking, more hiking, more backpacking…somewhere in that mix it started to hurt and swell, and for a long time I couldn’t kneel or go down stairs very easily.  The condition I have is most commonly referred to as “runner’s knee”.  It isn’t painful as much as it is frustrating. 

So I’ve been icing it, working it carefully to get it back to where I can really work it again.

Where Are The Men?

I’ve heard a few statistics of late that have left me scratching my head and asking “What’s up with men in the Church?” or better yet “Where are the men?”.

Consider these numbers:

• Nearly 80% of the population of the Church is either female or under age 18.
• In the recent missionary surge from roughly 55,000 missionaries to nearly 90,000 missionaries the majority of that additional 40,000 missionaries are women.
• In any given ward there is nearly a 70/30 ratio of women to men (active).

As I thought about these statistics I asked myself: Why are men not coming to church? Why are men not being active at church and often falling away from the church in such large numbers?  As I considered this, it occurred to me that we have (as a Church) actively and subconsciously driven men away.  Our actions, words and activities methodically chase men away from Church in droves.

I Now Have A Reason to Watch TV Again

http://www.nbc.com/running-wild-with-bear-grylls 

So I'll confess right here to being a fan of Bear Grylls.  I've said many times that my perfect vacation would be to spend a few weeks in the wild with Bear.  That, to me,  would be the ultimate vacation and it would be a LOT of fun.

So when I saw that he had a new show coming on I was pretty excited. When I learned that it would be him taking celebrities out into the wild for an expedition I was really pumped.  I couldn't go on vacation with Bear, but I could vicariously see what it might be like.

After watching the premier I can say I was not disappointed.

Now before I get 'haters' telling me that his shows are all contrived and that it's more about drama than actual survival situations.  I know full well that most of his stuff is staged and that in REAL survival situations a lot of what he shows wont work. I get that.  But you have to admit that it's a TON of fun to watch him. He is a genuine, hard-core, survivor and his real story is pretty amazing.  If you haven't read his books, I can highly recommend them, in particular "The Kid Who Climbed Everest" and "Mud, Sweat and Tears".

 Bear is a genuinely good man and his life is guided by values of faith, family and doing good.  One of my favorite quotes in guiding my life comes from Bear:

"Live a wild, generous, full, exciting life - blessing those around you and seeing the good in all."

I'm excited for this new show. I'll be watching all six episodes and hoping that NBC orders more.  Hope you all will enjoy it as well.

NO FEAR - NO WHINING - NO REGRETS

What do YOU think?

I recently had the opportunity to be the driver for the High School Boys Cross Country team as they ran in and competed in the RAGNAR Wasatch Back Relay.  (this is a 196.5 mile relay race that spans 2-3 days)  It was a great experience and one that I have fond memories of. 

There were many experiences there that I could relate and teach with but one that really struck me was the following.

I had 6 boys in my van, ranging in age from 15 to 18.  They were all members of the Church and all of them pretty active.  Throughout the entire trip I never heard anyone swear or put another person down.  There were no dirty jokes or off color statements.  They spoke with respect about the girls they knew and when we did encounter females they showed that respect in their actions.

It was an honor and a joy to associate with them.  I never had to remind them WHO they were or what they represented.

The same cannot be said of the YM of my ward when we go on activities.  Some groups are better than others, but I think that I’ve always had to remind them at least once of who they were and what they stood for. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Why it is that way? Why do some YM feel the need to push boundaries? Why did the XC team behave so well while other Aaronic Priesthood bearers need so many reminders? How can we make it different?

NO FEAR - NO WHINING - NO REGRETS