SecondIron's Blog

Sharpening Iron to Live Second

5 Friends Every Guy Needs

According to science and research people can usually only have about 100 to 150 real friends. If that were the case then why do we spend so much time ‘friending’ people we will never be friends with. It is not like the hundreds if not thousands of friends have a personal relationship with us. Better yet even the number of 150 sounds intimidating and well virtually impossible. Most men have a few friends every guy needs and nothing more. Working with the number 150, realistically that is not obtainable even counting all your friends and family. Could you imagine trying to develop real relationships with that many? Many of us struggle with social anxiety when the room fills with more than a handful of people, much less hundreds. This number has been researched for years and has been narrowed down to a bit less than 150 real friends. Take the classmates from school that you no longer talk to out of the equation. That alone should eliminate at least a third of your friends. Now lets take away those co-workers that you would never hang out with outside of work or confide in. If you remove the distant cousins and even local family that you only talk to at family reunions. Finally if you take away the friends that never have time for you. So what is your real number now? … not counting your spouse and kids. I would guess you are probably sitting at right about four or five. As men we can […]

Why We Have to Take a Stand

The time to take a stand is now. Like many communities in America since the recession began my hometown has been plagued with a disease. This disease has eroded the city from its core. What was once a friendly big city with a small town feel has become a place where crime and fear has taken over. We can no longer turn on the news or even listen to the radio without being bombarded with evil. It has become common to hear about shooting in our schools, workplaces and neighborhoods. Our country is becoming overrun by a callous society that has not dignity or respect for life. Every day we read about someone’s child being shot and killed. It has become normal for robberies and home invasions to control the headlines. We naturally get angry at all the violence. We talk about how this and that must be done. Yet we stand by on the sidelines and allow it to breach the headlines. Our first instinct is to lock our doors, arm our wives with shotguns and live in fear. We spend hours at the gun ranges to regain our masculinity and teach our wives to shoot at paper targets. Yet the crimes still happen, the breaking news reports become more frequent. When does it all end, when do we as men take a stand. The victims are no longer faceless from some other town. Soon we will attend the funeral of a friend or child that we knew as well. When does it come time […]

Why We Must Possess in Order to Give

In order for one to truly give of oneself, we must possess control of oneself. “The fundamental issue is freedom. You must possess yourself in order to give yourself away.” We all like to give to others in the form of charity whether in time, talent or money. Once we obtain a clean heart then and only then can we give. This is not to say that we cannot give our weekends up or maybe an hour here or there volunteering. We can go to charity event after charity event and still be empty. Even if you give the shirt off your own back to someone in need that does not consist of true giving. We remain slaves to the world and everything in it. Rather than giving to those in need we will hoard things we don’t really use, like or even want. We look in our full closets and think we have nothing to wear. Meanwhile our brothers and sisters are out in the elements hungry and bare. He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much. – Lao Tzu Click To Tweet Sure we go to church on Sunday and tithe our ten percent. Does putting spare change in the basket somehow wash away our sin? We talk a good talk as we hide the lies we hold within. Thinking that if we ask forgiveness then it is okay to do it all over again. In fact we were all sold into a lie of sorts. No matter what the. deed no matter […]