“Boys Play It Safe” Adapted from Chasing the Sage, by Bud Lamb
The BIG IDEA
The people who told you to play it safe spoke from a place of fear.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober [in spirit,] fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13 NASB
Jim and I were on a trail run at Folsom Lake, starting at the Dike 8 trailhead — 5 miles, out and back, on a rocky trail.
This was the first time I’d run with Jim. On the way out he led and set the pace. About 3 miles into the run we came to a small hill, maybe 30 yards with 50 feet elevation gain.
About 5 yards into the hill Jim started screaming I LOVE HILLSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! and raced up the hill.
Now, that’s not my mode. I’ve run for 25 years and my motto has been “slow and steady.”
Now I’m hearing Jim screaming his guts out attacking the hill and I find myself charging the hill too! I love hillssssssss!!!!!!!!! explodes out of me too! It felt awesome. We attacked the hill and killed the giant.
It wasn’t a big leap to observe that my approach to living was the same: safe.
With running, I ran safely to conserve energy and avoid injury. With life, pretty much the same: conserve energy, avoid injury. In a word? Safe.
A few things have become clear to me since that run.
Passive Heritage. Like most men born after the industrial revolution, we were raised by women. Dad was at the factory or the office, so mom taught us how to be a boy/man. Not all of us grew up with this heritage, but a ton did. Well-intentioned moms did their best, but they didn’t pass on the wild, the attack, the get after it with a whoop! No, most of them taught us to be nice, play by the rules, and, yep — be safe.
Soft Hands. Though I grew up in the Oregon woods, when I became an adult I moved to the city. I became domesticated. I moved from creating and cultivating to moving stuff around. I became a poser, who lost touch with the land — the dirt. My hands got soft, my heart flabby.
Quick Fixes. Rather than attack life, I avoided the risk of going for what was important. I self-medicated in a variety of suck holes of time, relationships, and energy. Quick fixes always left me with either a physical, emotional, or spiritual hangover as I violated my personal code over and over. The choices I made were choices with virtually no risk. No real hard work involved.
Adrift. Along the way, over the years I drifted through life. Never clearly declaring with the intention of following through. If it wasn’t easy, I would lower the bar. The result? An adult adrift.
Something significant happened that day on the trail with Jim.
Our rally cry is “Attack Hills – Kill Giants!” AHKG!!!!!!
Attack Hills – Kill Giants with a pimp mindset is abuse — you’re just a bully. This is the opposite of a noble warrior devoted to a cause greater than himself.
Attack Hills – Kill Giants has to do with all the elements of a fully vested man. We become a King who rules well, a Warrior willing to do whatever is needed to achieve the prize for the King, a Holy Man reliant on God, and a Lover who leads with his heart.
“Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.” –General George Patton
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