What does it take to be a man?

Ive been asking myself this question. What does it take to be a man? How would you define a “man”?

Or, should I use the word gentleman” instead?

Back in commandos, our instructors always told us, “a man must have a pen”. As strange as it sounds, I can relate to what he means. My friend says, a man should wear a watch. Yup, thats why I started wearing watches, expensive ones:D So what is the difference between a “man” and a “gentleman”? In my opinion, a man is someone who thinks like an adult, someone who is able to make tough decisions, and be trusted with heavy responsibilities. There is probably not much difference between a man and a gentleman. But I think that when people use the word “gentleman” they probably expect more emphasis on character. Doing the right thing, knowing how to treat a lady, giving in, taking the initiative and living your life in the values that you believe in. (a bit more on the chivalrous side)

I feel that a man/gentleman, first of all should always have an ambition. You cant call yourself a man if you dont aspire to do something right? No matter how absurd this dream, ambition or goal might be, at least you have a direction in life. We’re still young, young people have the potential to fulfill their dreams. And, a dream must always come with a plan, if not it would be called DAYDREAMING, wouldnt it? Following which, a man should have the means. Means could be defined as many things, social, intellectual, emotional etc. Thinking about it, does having money make you a “man”? Nope it does not. But having these all these means would probably give you financial means too right? . As for “means”, im sure you could come up with a couple more.

To my third point. Looks. The physical and most superficial point. We are people, human no matter what. Physical appearances are bound to have an impact of an impression of someone, be it consciously or subconsciously. Like I said in the first paragraph, a man should wear a watch. A man should be groomed, which reflects discipline, but not to well kept(to the point of femininity). Slightly muscular? To show that he is capable of protecting himself. (from a woman at least! haha) Dress wise, less graphic tees, or tees with lesser attention grabbing designs on it. Im sure as guys get older, we would probably want to start wearing collared shirts and what nots. Something that people can take you seriously in.

On to my last and most important point! CHARACTER. Be chivalrous, responsible,when something bad happens, suck it up, think before you speak, demonstrate gentlemanliness, and be generous(I would want to say generous at all times but that would probably seem quite unrealistic). Notice all the points mentioned are things that we can actually improve about ourselves? It isnt something like looks where you are born with, or a silver spoon in  your mouth. Being able to list a couple of points is a good start, the next is to work on it and slowly develop yourself

And girls:) you could come up with a few pointers yourself, work on it and soon Singapore would be a place filled with ladies with character. If… You spend more than like… half an hour thinking of what defines a lady/woman character wise, you probably REALLY really need to start developing your character because you probably belong to a pool of people in Singapore who are labelled as shallow. Very often, people seem unaware of the importance thats placed on the character of a woman. 

Afterall,

“A man protects, a woman nurtures”

“Behind every successful man is a woman”