The Guys’ Guy’s Guide to Managing Fear

Fear runs rampant throughout our culture. If you don’t believe me, check out our newspaper headlines, evening news, movies and scripted television series.

Tales of terror, hate, murder, looming economic collapse, disease, and death fill our headlines.Listen to the language used by your friends, relatives and people on the street.In many of these casual conversations doom, gloom and threads of fear are etched in the subtext. And it’s true—the world can be a scary place, and there is … read more

The Guys’ Guy’s Guide to Love – An Exploration of the Heart

Jagger had it right when he sang, “Love, it’s a bitch”.

Sure, it makes the world go around and can make your heart go pitter, patter, but love can also break your heart and cause a lot of pain. How can we maintain a loving heart in a world filled with so much hateful behavior? At times it’s hard to love our fellow man. But, it’s not all bad. If you look deep inside, there is a light … read more

5 Lessons I’ve Learned in Five Years of Marriage

If life is like a box of chocolates, then marriage is a pizza pie. Every pie has the same basic ingredients, but you and your partner add distinct flavors and spices. I married later than most. In fact, I was single so long that on holidays my family stopped asking me when I was getting married. I was a happy bachelor. Although I shared a few live-in relationships and learned a thing or two about love from my … read more

The Guys’ Guy’s Guide to Healing (Part 2)

It’s been six months since my second robotic procedure on my kidneys. I just got the results of my MRI and was given a clean bill of health. What a relief after a long, challenging journey.

Who even thinks about their kidneys? It all came down last summer at the Jersey Shore. A few hours after my weekly 10-mile run along the boards I felt discomfort on my left side. For the next three hours I was writhing … read more

The Guys’ Guy’s Guide to Self Love

Loving is never easy. We live in a culture and time where we are made to feel separate. Religion, money, politics and race have all been leveraged to keep us apart and dissatisfied and unloved. And let’s face it; life is tough. So anything we can do to validate our self-worth and connect us through love is a good thing. But it has to start with loving ourselves.

I’d loved and lost many times when I finally realized what … read more

Four Lessons I Learned from Surgery

Well, it’s a new year and I’m better now.  The first half of last year I got into the best shape of my life, relative to my age. It was exhilarating to run like the wind for ten miles and feel the endorphins kick in while perspiring under golden sunshine. My daddy weight melted away, I was jacked, and my abs were as tight as they’ve been in years. I felt great.

Then in July I found out … read more

The Guys’ Guy’s Guide to Healing

Shit happens. And it usually happens when you least expect it.

This year I’ve been on a major health kick. I lost thirty-five pounds through a drastically improved diet and workout regime and have never felt better in my life. In fact, relative to my age, I’ve never been in better shape. I did not know why I was training so hard, but I’ve been diligent and disciplined like never before. I’ve been on a mission.

So I was … read more

The Guys’ Guy’s Guide to Listening

How many times have you told a friend or colleague something of importance only to see their eyes glaze over while you pour your heart out?

Don’t worry. It’s not you. It’s them. But we’ve all been “them”. What I mean is,our crazy world and its demands set our minds on overdrive for most of the day. So unfortunately when someone is speaking to us, many times we’re either thinking of our response or what we want for … read more

When Guys Cry

I’ll admit it. I shed a tear at the end of “Silver Linings Playbook” and when Joaquin Phoenix retakes the stage as Johnny Cash towards the end of “Walk The Line”.

It doesn’t matter what film it is. A successful Hollywood movie expertly knows how to evoke emotion from their audience. At the same time, I recently watched a segment on ESPN about NFL draft picks crying after teams call out their names. These are big strong, manly … read more

A Guy’s Guy is a Friend’s Friend

Friendship is at the heart of being a Guy’s Guy. 

The frenetic pace of the modern life can get in the way of maintaining long-term friendships. The world has gotten smaller and as a result we spend so much of our time working or managing our complicated lives that we sometimes forget about the importance of having real friends. We make friends throughout life—in grammar school, high school, college, at work and through meeting friends of friends. Our … read more