I’ve spent most of my adulthood with some tremendous blessings, but also a lot of dude relationships where I constantly get told “So busy with the kids!” or “I don’t know what to say” whenever trying times emerge. A lot of guys don’t know what to do in tough situations with other guys, other than, say, “Show up for the funeral.” That’s definitely a great thing to do (in that specific situation). I do this little newsletter for a group called F3 Nation, and in an upcoming newsletter I’ve got a little section about my own existence and this kid with the call-sign “Cinco” (real name Kevin). Here it is:
First off, here’s a good article about how to support your mid-life friends, regardless of whether they have zero kids, 2 kids, 6 kids, etc. There’s some stuff in there that might resonate for different people of small actions you can take to support someone in a tougher moment.
I’ll sketch the outlines of a F3 example for you too. My wife and I did IVF. It did not work. Definitely about 65% of that is on me. It’s a tough situation to be in on any number of fronts — it’s basically like, here’s the one thing you’re theoretically on the planet to do, and you’re not doing it. It is a daily struggle and that’s a chunk of the reason why I come out here as consistently as I do — in the name of some form of self-improvement.
