Stages of Masculinity

John Eldridge, in his book Wild at Heart, writes that there are six stages that every man goes through in life: the Beloved Son, the Cowboy Ranger, the Warrior, the Lover, the King and the Sage.

The Beloved Son stage is where a boy learns that he is valuable and loved by his father. His father shows him he's proud of his son, and encourages him in the right path.

The Cowboy Ranger stage is where the boy grows adventurous and daring, which leads to the Warrior stage where the boy finds that there are some things worth fighting for.

The Lover stage is where the boy learns to open his heart to love.

The King stage is where the man rules over his "domain" such as his household, which leads to the Sage stage where the man with great wisdom and experiences passes it to others.

The great question in men's hearts stem from these stages, and often their hesitations or crazy ideas about changing their lives comes from either wondering which stage they are in or discovering which stage they are entering.

With those things in mind (and the knowledge that a man can be in more than one stage at a time) I ask myself out loud which stage(s) I am in.

It seems quite obvious to me that I am no longer in the Beloved Son stage, as I am very aware of how proud my father is of me and know how much he loves me. While it can be argued that this stage may have been delay in years past, my father and I have passed through this stage with flying colors and he has ushered me on to the next stages.

The Cowboy Ranger stage is one I've always thought of where the boy yearns to take risks. Though these risks are not necessarily of the physical danger sort, I must say those are the risks I've yearned for most. I believe I've been going through this stage for several years and am in reality nearing its conclusion. There are still risks I yearn to take, but more and more I find myself wanting to take the risks with a larger goal in mind. In other words, something worth fight for.

This leads me to believe that I am squarely in the midst of the Warrior stage. This is in no means because of the fact that I am a Soldier deployed to a war at present. I firmly believe that in my next career choice I will still maintain the same drive to fight for something worth fighting for. As I recall I eluded to these yearnings in an earlier post.

But what of the other 3 stages? I find society (both secular and christian) telling me that I cannot be in the Sage stage until I am an older man and that it is unlikely that I am in the King stage until I have passed through the Lover stage, which according to both societies I should be squarely in the middle of right now. I find that to be ludicrus.

I find as I move to new jobs, more and more I find myself offering advice to those in and around my former jobs. I find myself passing on information, wisdom and knowledge to them. This would be in line with the Sage stage.

Furthermore, I find myself pushing closer to the King stage by taking on more and more responsibility and opportunity to take the blame for the choices I make that others follow. This would be in line with the King stage.

As for the Lover stage, I find myself severely lacking the yearning to dive full force into this stage as I have found myself with all of the other 5 stages. This I cannot explain. I like girls and love the idea of falling in love and getting married and having kids. But something always stops my heart from giving everything to moving me into that stage.

Maybe in that regard I really am only still in the Warrior stage and must now learn to open my heart. Maybe one day. . .we'll see.