11 minute read
BORN TO BE A MAN
Is it possible to write a self-help book inspired by adopt adapt improve? Of course, and I want you to be part of it!
By Mr OSCAR WAHLSTRÖM,Round Table Sweden
WHY BORN TO BE A MAN?
Your life and your time in Round Table is important, no doubt you have a valuable role to fulfi ll; but also an opportunity to create the most amazing journey of your life. This book is a gift to our future generations to come.
The purpose of this book is (1) to explain how youths can mature into men; (2) how to sustain a relationship; (3) why it’s important being a father and be there for your kids; (4) how to fi nding your highest purpose and transform it into a gift to society; (5) to understand why you always have to start with your individual self before you try to change the surroundings.
My Story
MY JOURNEY STARTED after I had my gambling addiction at 24, I was weekly with my therapist and also had a desire of getting my feelings out. Some days it was breast pains, a strong feeling of throwing up and panic attacks. I thought like many other people that the pain would never go away. A couple of years later, I was feeling better and decided to never do things that hurt myself again.
I always had an interest in reading and wanted to get back to who I was before. I started reading tons of self-help books, tried diff erent types of meditation and experimenting at the same time with my mind. As time went by, I became more touched with my inner self and my individuality was growing, it just felt good.
After a time, I grew tired of reading self-help books. It came to a time when everyone talked about the same things over and over again. I begin searching for something new and fresh. That’s when I started reading Jung: “man and his symbols” but also Nietzsche: “Good and Evil” and Joseph Campbell “The Hero with a thousand faces” - which also has been a great inspiration for Born to be a man’s structure. I fell in love, longed for psychology, mythology and religion, it became my new Pathos.
From my time as a roleplayer leader of “Dragons & Demons’’ I always knew how a strong story could charm the messenger in a beautiful way. A vision was growing inside of my mind about a non-fi ction book where every chapter was starting with a story with a strong metaphorical meaning. A non-fi ction book of what society needs right now, strong men with their own values and virtues but most of all a direction.
Both the individual and the collective are necessary for a society to fully thrive, but it’s important that we fulfi ll our individual highest needs fi rst before we try to change our surroundings. most of the time if we try to change the collective we often carry our own self-interests and try to fulfi ll them at the same time, I believe this is where corruption thrives.
I’m gonna tell you a secret. I have a clear vision of where I’m currently heading but it terrifi es me. Doing this pre-marketing through social media and exposing myself is not something I usually do even in private. It is not about money, it is about experience and to overcome my deepest fear but also share my knowledge with the world.
I hope you will join me!
How the Book Is Organized
I’ve created the fi rst structure of Born to be a Man and now I’m searching for a community where I can share my thoughts, but also my journey, somewhere where like-minded people live. It is of utmost importance that you not only hear about thoughts and daily updates, but also be part of the journey.
ADOPT
Adopt means: choose to take up, follow, or use. It could be a habit, a process or an approach. It’s about trying new things, getting experience and conquering our inner fears. An adventurer is an adopter, someone who sees his life as something which needs to be explored.
The Adventurer is the fi rst role in Born to be a Man - Through chapter 1-5.
ADAPT
Adapt means: make (something) suitable for a new use or purpose; modify. It’s when you have explored which habits, processes and approaches which you would like to have in your life. A hero is an adapter, he adapts the right things that suits him best, someone who pushes through when times are hard and fi nds his highest purpose in life.
The Hero is the second role in Born to be a man - Through chapter 6-11.
IMPROVE
Improve means: develop or increase in mental capacity by education or experience. It’s when you have found your highest purpose in life and recreated it as a gift which you give back to your community. A mentor is an improver, someone who is wise enough to keep educating himself and young men who want to make a similar journey as himself.
The Mentor is the third role in Born to be a man - Through chapter 12-16.
How the Book Is Structured
I’ve laid the foundation of Born to be a man with meticulous analysis, thoughtful use of context and images, also chapters and narrative to realize this book. Each of my 16 images have been carefully selected together with a fi ction based story to build up the right atmosphere for every chapter. These chapter introductions are there to spread a message just as stories we tell around a campfi re.
DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES
Not everyone is brave enough to follow their dreams, standing on the pier and seeing another ship leaving. Dreams become dreams until you die, no one will miss your whining.
GET YOUR FOOT IN THE BOAT
When you are brave enough to embrace your dream, hearing the waves strike against the hull and the wind that caresses the face. Now it is not a dream anymore, it’s fi nally the adventure you’ve been longing for.
PREPARE FOR THE WORST HOPE FOR THE BEST
People can choose to be prepared, learning from other people who have done similar journeys. Teaching you about navigation, how to read a map and how to control the boat when you are in the middle of a storm. Wise to take that advice from an older generation with knowledge and experience, if not, your foolishness will sink your ego to the bottom of the deepest oceans.
THE INNER STORM OF DARKNESS
After a few weeks you will notice that your dream is not as idyllic as you thought it would be. You encounter and survive a few storms, that’s when a shadow will appear and show you sides you never thought existed.
BATTLE WITH THE SEA DEMON
one night you are woken up by lightning striking the boat, hurrying up on the deck and you are met with a wave of over twenty meters that swallows you completely. You wake up to someone pulling you up, coughing up seawater all over yourself, his red eyes staring into you.
MONSTER, GUIDES AND DREAMS
Having miraculously escaped the jaws of the demon, you are stranded on an island with horrible sounds coming from the jungle. A strange man approaches you with a big mask, he seems friendly and he teaches you how to survive. It seems like you are bothered by strange dreams.
ENCOUNTER WITH THE SHIPWRECKED WOMAN (SCENARIO 1)
After a year you feel strong and decide to leave the island. You have built yourself a steady boat and set sail towards a new adventurer. Not far away from the island you save a young woman on a fl oating barrel. She is the most beautiful woman you have ever seen and you both fall in love with each other.
ENCOUNTER WITH THE MERMAID (SCENARIO 2)
After a year you feel strong and decide to leave the island. You have built yourself a steady boat and set sail towards a new adventurer. Not far away from the island you see a beautiful woman stranded on a rock and it sounds like she is singing for you. You steer the boat towards the woman and you hear a loud noise, you notice your boat is stuck and see the woman in her eyes. She is laughing uncontrollably and dives down in the sea.
YOUR HEART’S COMPASS
You encounter a thick fog stretched across the sea, your real compass is spinning around and you need to follow your heart. A tough task from someone who has never done it before. You dig deep down your own unconscious and fi nd guidance in a father fi gure that helps you out of the fog. When the fog has settled, you look back and see mountainous rocks pointing up out of the sea and you think about blessings from the man within.
THE FIRMAMENT
one night the sea is calm, not a wind or a sound and you can see stars all over the fi rmament. You are looking down at the sea and it refl ects the fi rmament like a mirror. You perceive the world as beautiful, the empty void between the fi rmament and the sea is an image of god, indescribable.
CORE OF LIFE
When you fi nally reach your last destination of your vision and grasp your reward. You realize that not only have you reached ”The Fountain of Youth” you have also grown as an individual. You look back and see who you have become and hopefully you won’t settle.
DOOMED TO SAIL FOREVER
You have the opportunity after you fi nd your innermost desire to return back to your town and teach other people about your journey. But there is nothing that attracts you, you want more. That’s why you sail past your home island with another greater vision for yourself. When the young generation needed you the most, you just sailed by.
THE WRATH OF POSEIDON
When you are unavailable to accept that your journey will take time, that you need all the knowledge you can get to obtain your ”Fountain of Youth”. You will sometimes manage to grab your reward with the price of destroying yourself and everything you touch all around you. The very gods will chase you to the end of the world.
AT YOUR WITS’ END
After a long journey you lost track of where you were, the food and water had run out, you really thought this was the end. The day turns to vague images, you hallucinate until you feel someone pull you back to consciousness. You have been saved and they are taking you back to civilization.
CONQUEROR OF SEA AND LAND
After your adventurer you have been a master of both the sea and the land. Something that was a challenge for you is now a piece of cake, you wanderer between like there’s never been a line between them. You also help young men fulfi ll themselves and do the same journey as you did.
BLESSING OF DREAMS
When you are old, you look back on the man you used to be with a smile and dreaming back to your adventure. You are truly blessed that you did get on your dream and fulfi ll your deepest need. Your contribution to society has been with the greater good for the collective,
Are You Willing To Share a Story
If you are reading this and are interested in sharing your own thoughts or sharing your own story in diff erent topics, I’m willing to listen and even write it in the book. Take this opportunity to be part of something bigger, as a result of your courage I will even share a ”Thank you note” with your name on it in the book. Thank you!
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