Honour the Men in Your Life

 International Men's Day

International Men's Day is held annually on 19 November. It is an opportunity to celebrate men and boys in all their diversity. Many people also use the day to highlight some of the key social issues that men and boys around the world face. International Men's Day Info

Disclaimer: The following information is based on my opinion entirely and is not meant, in any way, to persuade the reader's rights to their own opinion. The celebration of the men in our lives DOES NOT INCLUDE abusive relationships. Please seek help if you are in an abusive situation: Global Link

Honoring the Men in Our Lives

We all start off in life with a male figure-head 'somewhere' in our lives. Some may not be present as father-figures but we are all conceived by both male and female interaction.

So what is it then, that determines our perception of the male presence around us?

Undoubtedly the direct attention of those in our daily lives, whether it be family, friends or colleagues affect our overall psyche to establish a pattern for future intimate relationships.

In my memoir, En Route, I discuss in detail, my relationships with the prominent males in my life. My husband being the main character as our story unravels from young love to mid-life love. As you can imagine, we have had to go through many transformations to keep up the the ever-changing landscape of our growth and maturity. Along with our various roles in career, parenthood and empty-nesters, the changing outlook through aging did a lot to metamorphose our relationship as well.

To pay tribute to my husband on International Men’s Day, I’m offering my ebook for free. Creating Sparks that Last showcases the progress of our emotional closeness and connection through 35 years of marriage.

Available at this link

Sadly, four highly respected males that I've written about in my memoir have since passed, and only one of them received my manuscript in email format. I'm not even sure if he got to read it because it was just a few days later that he transcended. 

Which is why I wanted to make sure I give tribute, TODAY, to all the males who have shaped me in some way, whether positively or seemingly negatively. We can either grow better or bitter from our experiences and I choose to grow better.

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If we want our men folk to open up to us we need to give them the right tools to learn to process their emotions in a healthy way.

I encourage you to listen to this 7 minute video by motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia on Taking Risks. He says, "The greatest risk in life is to risk nothing." Leo is closely aligned with his emotional awareness. He shares valuable ideas on the connections we make with others.

Primarily, my relationship with my Dad would have shaped my view initially, until I became my own person and formulated my own outlook. My unique variations of personality and traits ultimately shape who I am.

Other prominent males in my life have been many and varied, from my two sons, to my step-dads, grandfathers, uncles, honorary uncles, cousins, friends and siblings. Male colleagues played a role in my early working days but later I worked in the mostly-female environment of childcare.

I don't want to make generalizations here but I want to say that the psyche of men as a whole is an untapped resource of emotion with a LOT of misunderstandings along the way.

Traditionally, their role is one of provider and problem-solver, but more recently, men are being encouraged more and more to allow their emotions to be visible to the outside world; that it is not an ill-conceived notion of weakness to admit mental fatigue.

Men need to be given the opportunity to really explore the feel of their emotions and to experience the healing of going through the hurting of it.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Elora Canne

What can you do today, to honor the important male's in your life?

Your partner, sons, relatives, friends or colleagues.

Let them know how much they mean to you and maybe even highlight what it is you value about their character.

Let me know in the comments if you found this helpful

And if you're interested in reading about the prominent men in my life and how they shaped me, you can pre-order my memoir HERE in kindle format today, and print form in the next week, for release February 2022.