Man or Boy?

"All of us are anxious to improve our circumstances but are unwilling to improve ourselves"- Author Unknown -

 

If I asked you to look up the word "Man" in the dictionary what would it honestly state? Because according to my Webster's dictionary the word "Man" is defined as, An adult male human being.
If we look up the word "child" and/or "boy" in that same dictionary the word will clearly state, A person between birth and puberty. So what may I ask in actuality differentiates a man from a child, a man from a boy?
Is it his age, physical appearance, demeanor, character, penis size, or can we simply define a man by his physical, mental and/or spiritual maturity, his intelligence?
For most logical thinking individuals who have had the luxury of having a positive male role model in their lives, they define a man by his mental maturity, his moral values, principles, self respect, work ethic, etc, etc.
However, for far too many individuals in our inner city communities, we define a man or what we deem to be a man by his bank account, hustle game, shoe game, fashion game and all around the board game.
His so-called swag.
It's a shame because in the current society that we live in, a males financial and/or social status is deemed more valuable than his mental and spiritual maturity.
I personally acknowledge that being financially stable is an imperative need for a man, however if a male is willing to sacrifice his physical and mental being, his woman's sexuality, his children and/or responsibilities as a man in order to obtain wealth and/or status, then he really isn't a man. He's simply a boy with a pocket full of money.
And when i use the word child and/or boy, I state it to define a particular type of individual. That being a person who avoids responsibility, meaning he's unemployed, unconcerned, not attending too school nor his financial obligations, he's selfish, not being a father to his children, a leader to his community, and he's emulating others by acting other than himself and making excuses for his misbehavior by stating that his actions, inactions and appearance don't define who he is as a man.
He's confused.
You see when I use the word child and/or boy I am describing an unrefined undisciplined individual who has no compassion, consideration, and/or respect for self and others. And I admit that at one point or another in my life i was this child, I was this blind and misguided fool.
However when i began to honesty study self, my irresponsible and destructive behavior, and the damage I caused to myself, my family, my precious little girl and community as a whole, I gradually began to shed and outgrow those childlike characteristics I once embraced and transformed my life and self into a responsible and respectful mature man who now walks with dignity, integrity and respect.
And please don't misunderstand me because I am still not where I need to be as a man, father and productive member of society. I still have some growing to do. but the one thing that I am certain of, the one thing that I am completely confidant about is that I will never be considered and/or labeled a boy again.
You see as a man I have learned that we have an obligation to cultivate and lead our children, our women, our families and our communities and if we don't take the time out now to figure our who we truly are as individuals, as men then chances are we will continue to indulge in this destructive and ignorant behavior that will only lead us to experience more undesirable consequences.
It's ironic because right now we've got all the time and opportunity in the world to study self, stand up and become responsible conscious men, yet many of us will not take advantage of the numerous educational opportunities presented to us, and that lack of discipline and ambition will ultimately lead us to become the next neighborhood statistic.
The 87%.
It saddens me because the majority of us  in this condition consider ourselves to be grown men. we consider ourselves to be leaders, yet we don't even have the mental strength, will, and courage to be who we truly are, to be us (authentic).
We walk around our mental prison yards emulating everything that we see and hear in these music videos, and i personally am a fan of music and both love and appreciate our culture; however not to the extent where I'm mimicking everything i see, read and hear. Not to the pint where i lose my personal identity.
It's like my Big sis Mrs. Em always tells me, "If you don't love yourself, you need to love yourself." Because if we don't, and continue to indulge in this selfish and boyish behavior, this egotistical male ideology that has only caused us and others so much, heart ache, pain and turmoil, A real man is eventually going to step up to the task and rob you of the opportunity to love, care and provide for your family and precious seeds.
So in conclusion I humbly ask you, are you a man or a boy?
because from where i stand I see men who will never discover their full potential until they dare to shoulder increased accountability.
I'm A Man