What determines a man.....
Strength, leadership, passion, loyalty, compassion, love, and sometimes fear. A life born to a circumstance unknown to him. A life that has the potential to see happiness. A child scorn for the color of his skin, the size of his eyes, and even the size of his waist. As the child grows to the body of his teens, eyes start to see someone that has always been there. Flattery...starts to change his path, as he views what seems to be the friends that everyone wants. A life becomes comsumed by oneself. A life in the midst of others, becomes a world of one. One life that is fill with hate, pain, payback, envy, disloyality, and loss. A child becomes a man as a piece is taken from his life. The world that was built is lost, as the light dims. Grains fall without meaning, and as a grain becomes a mound the only thing that changes are the people around you. And those same people that have seen your back more than your face, are by your side. And a realization that life must go on, and a strength emerges. A strength and courage not to be afraid of life, and what, or who it may throw at you. A life of humility, and honor build the eventual man. A man that's destiny is unknown but met with determination. A life becomes more than just himself, but is filled with those that have changed him, and those that he has changed.
-AjC
This is a disclaimer...I am not so self absorbed that I refer to myself in the third person. I just felt like writing it like that.