Ego Chips:

I coined the phrase "Ego Chips" from Carlos Xuma who mentioned it in one of formerly known as David De Angelo's "Interviews With Dating Gurus".
Lovers give and have endurance, patience, there are many ways you can give. Thing is, we evolved from tribes where an insult could result in being publicly shamed: you may never find a mate if word gets out that someone slighted you and you did not return fire. But in reality, what threat does it pose to extend a courtesy to a stranger, do good all around and keep an upbeat attitude, that all takes energy and effort. Caring, it takes effort; some may say it's rewarding, but it gets tiring. That's why you hit the gym, nothing spells confidence like being fit. Everyone around wants a great body; few have the discipline and carry-through character to make it happen. That's why strong men tend to be more assertive than their weakling counterparts. It's an attitude proper of an individual that has earned it. And it's not a sedentary title; there's no "after" you earn it. You have to keep up earning it. It takes hard work and it pays off. 

In dealing with others, as a man, you need to take the initiative. I rather make it about something other than hitting on women or, what's worse, flirting. I tend to be above all that, we're adults and we can deal with sexual tension. I choose to be okay with that fact and be charming as you pass me by, because I can almost detect your presence from afar. It is sometimes as if we were in sync, tuned into each other. We've known each other for years and it doesn't get old. It's fun to see each other and pretend we're really not there because we're really not and because we play pretend games all day long, as if the life that runs in our heads would supplant the realness of that which stands. We're gamblers. We're players.
We should reduce the anxiety that a beautiful girl causes us. It's how you show her that you really are in control. It's not the end of the world, given our reaction, as if we were dealing with a life-or-death situation.
So, we react as if it were a threat to our survival because that is how our subconscious perceives it, magnifying it so that it appears more urgent, so that we take measures in order to solve the matter. To get us to do what is essential in order to survive. When we move on, we're adapting. When we work, we're producing, earning our livelihood. Every aspect of our lives can and should be slightly improved, if it is to be mastered. We won't find that elusive perfection but we'll always search for it until we come really close to it. You ought to be better in every conceivable way. Wake up early as a new day dawns, find a reason that day to do something that you have postponed. Throw the dice again every time you open your eyes and see the world before your eyes. It's a good bet.

A Battle of Egos

You take what's yours; it isn't given. It's not won by indifference, though there were notable absences. Moments of doubt, resentment, a battle of egos. An exaggeration of feelings that leads to raw emotions, sparking unintended consequences. It is best to exert self-restraint in chaotic moments; sail back to calmer waters. It's not reason the voice we come back to answer; anger can be very logical and persuasive as well. Except, given your altered state of mind, the tonality, the verbal onslaught that serve as telltale signs of your heightened mood. Such unnerved inner motions can derail us from our aim; lack of courage, cowardice, can be a prison all in its own and it is up to us to break free and run. It's okay to be afraid if it's done so actively, lively. Fear will protect you in some instances, a brush of madness can go a long way, but that's that. You, too, need to let go and embrace the unknown, open yourself up to new situations, conspire to be happy. 

We often recreate our worst nightmares, by worrying, for instance, it is as if we were rehearsing those very wary scenarios in our mind; sometimes, what we fear comes to be, especially if all we do about something is worry of it. Worry has its uses; it's like an alarm going off, you snooze it and if you're not up in predetermined amount of time, it'd go off again, and again, until you wake up. Worry is a wake-up call to action, and the only way we can deal with preoccupation is by occupying ourselves; action defeats all worrisome states of mind. It is through action that ideals manifest, dreams lose their ethereal veil and gain traction in reality, edified moments that were not more than mere specters of our most inner cravings and wants. We are vain creatures, it's what made us more adaptable, our appreciation for mundane items, earthly shiny minerals and primal appetite, our curiosity only served our narcissistic endeavour. Take a look around: all the Buddhist modest temples built, all the vanity that lies in every selfless act, all the despotic themes entailed in kindness, compassion and that most mystifying elusive creature called "love". Altruism is nothing more than sophisticated selfishness. 

And so, a duel between madness and reason ensues, we're nothing short of divided within. Powerful forces fuel our predisposed and deterministic mental processes, paradox after paradox are embedded; our minds, it seems at times, aren't ours. Our ego whispers like the proverbial shoulder devil, enticing us, tempting us, to go all up in arms. We want to retreat, to give peace a chance, but all that hippie shit won't suffice. We inherited warrior-like DNA, history has been nothing more than a succession of tyrannies, victor takes all. 

It's no different in the arena of lust which is a heightened state of love. We're not in control then; it's okay to lose control, let go, give in. In love, we surrender; in love, we wage warfare against egotistical demons, shadow upon coercive shadow... in laying our weapons, surrendering our will, we succumb unto one another until we no longer are an entity, but tentacles of a singular being, intertwined souls, meshed and bounded. 

It takes courage to give in. You can't let go, unless it is done completely, with abandonment. You can't forgive if you can't forget. You can't forget and, by default, somewhat start the healing. It is silly the reason why we fight: We inflict pain upon one another only to lick each other's wounds thereafter. 

The Honorable Wolf

Initially wolves were meant to be wolves, and conformity and convenience transformed them into a more docile, therefore domestic, version of its former self. Enter: the dog. It was not that we domesticated the wolf, as the wolf assimilated us. See, it was the wolf who incurred the major shift and mutation, all you have to do is take a dog and compare it to the modern wolf, a slightly more watered-down replica of the ancestor from which all the dog species evolved. It was just as opportunistic of the wolf evolving to adapt, mimic and bond with the most lethal and successful predator in nature unlike no other specie. Dogs no longer roam and hunt, fight one another in order to strive; humans' perks included shelter, food and protection. That's a small price to pay for their loyalty and hunting skills which humans used to catch big prey, and for protection, like the German Shepherd. The modern dog may have shed the most vicious and predatory savage nature but kept some of that ferocity for the good fight. Modern dogs closest to the actual wolf are feistier, far more aggressive, up for hunting and protection. In this sense, the modern dog is an honorable wolf. 

Human descendants of the past three generations, sometimes stemming from the seventies, have also taken an evolutionary quantum leap. They're in their twenties, some are college and high school graduates or their equivalent drop-outs, but they've managed to hold a job, many work full-time, give little home and spend lavishly on their lifestyle: snapshots on Instagram, fancy rides, clothes, and hanging out four nights a week. They were supposed to stay until graduating from college and then find a career and move out; others were supposed to find a place with a loved one and split rent in half, but why bother split your earnings in half with your other half if you can split yourself in all fours by staying at home with your parents or mom. This way, there's no need to forge an actual relationship, live in a perennial love affair of an everlasting era where adolescence, young adulthood and maturity all merge into one. It is the spiritual age of the slackers.
You'll think they're to blame solely for their lack of ambition. But they have evolved and known that the best years, as told by their own parents and all adults around, happen between the last years young adulthood and mid thirties, as if so much medicine and diet and exercise had added to the human age cycle another decade, where parents get to play washed-up austere roles. But by condoning these actions, parents are partners in crime; by not demanding more of their children, they're left with whatever is up to them. If you don't feel the right pressure, each day in and out, then you'll grow complacent, indifferent, settle for less than what is within reach, there to grasp. If it's the minimum effort you place on any endeavour, you will almost always get the same half-ass results. On the contrary, if you work out four times or more a week, it shows. If you save the most you can, not the least you should, your money will grow faster. You're more the minute your choices demand more of you. And so, if you can't find a place of your own, don't give the least you can. Always invest in your family, as you do with your friends; it's the key to a successful partnership, an ideal relationship; and it all emanates from an inner well. It's all related and it bottles down to how you relate to yourself. How much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice? How much are you're willing to conquer? How much are you able to give.
You can give in many ways, not just monetarily. You can give by helping others, and you can render your services and fulfill your duty by contributing in every way you can. You'll see it makes sense, and you will never go without; and you will never be missing.
Give more of yourself. Strategically, that is. Don't overwhelm yourself, dull your good intentions by dumping unwarranted gifts, unnecessary luxuries but bring around whatever is needed, whatever you use that has been provided for you. Don't let poverty walk into your home. Show your manliness by being the provider, as well as you play the role of protector. Pull your own weight. Devise a plan in which daily you give back. You can contribute by simply washing the dishes, taking the garbage out, buying some groceries, etc. Be like the dog, offer up your services if you want food and shelter in exchange.
You will either change, evolve adapt, or you'll perish. And by perish, I mean you will no longer have a support system at your feet to carry you along and you will have to fend for yourself. No, I'm throwing you out. You will know long before that ever happens, that it is only you who can throw yourself out. Sure, you'll have the same liberties, if not more; after all, you should be entitled to more if you're, in fact, giving more. You can still go out and come home late, no one demand an explanation. You'll get to bring your girlfriend here, and a friend on occasion, as you have always. You'll get a plate of food and some other goodies, like soap and toilet paper, items that unless we demand of you, you seem to think that these grow in trees.
Thus, you'll be helping your household, misery will never strike a home where everyone in it has staked themselves out to sustain. You'll see how prosperity reigns, how moods are eased, how smoothly things transition.
Masculinity is not about fronting. It's not about wearing expensive clothes and projecting a life that signals waste and fanfare, as if the truly evolved being had any material needs. We may have wants, but these aren't needs; and everything is dispensable and everyone is expendable. Be of use, not just another brat who leeches off their parental tit, grow a pair of diligent hands, a pair of arms open to embrace and flexed to action. Laziness rarely pays off; rent is due. Get off your high horse and start paying your dues. You'll still be able to wear Diesel, smell Dior, and not have to wash your own clothes, cook your own meals or clean around the house.
You can still get a hit off, first drink's on me.