Lessons Learned from 80’s Action Heroes

I was a latchkey kid growing up and so what that translated to was coming home, changing out of my school clothes into my home clothes and getting approximately an hour of television before I had to do my homework. By the time my hour was up, one of my three older sisters would be home to start prepping for dinner while my mum worked. 

It really meant I had an hour to myself; my weekday cartoons to look forward to before I had to stare at math (awful), or English (easy). I’m sure there were other subjects , but those were the only one’s my mum seemed interested in looking at after she came home from the telephone company. 

There was one guy I appreciated the most, and that was Mr. T. Don’t get me wrong, as a true 80’s baby, I knew about Rambo, He-man, Go-bots and the other guys too. The only one that made the most sense was Mr. T. 

There was this short lived show where he was a detective or street avenger, and something would stump him. Naturally, this meant he would need to hit the gym. By the time he was finished with his workout, he cracked the case and dealt the appropriate amount of justice. 

I’m by all definitions, an older man now. My hand falls asleep, I’m sore just from laying down and I never run from a well earned nap. 

I get stumped by life. 

I can be anxious, sad, and all things that are entirely human. As a man, one of the many things that helps in the feeling of being stuck is knowing I am allowed to be stuck and invite opportunities to be more than in the place I might be at the moment. I welcome being stumped and the joy that comes from the other side of it. 

I hope I’m making Mr. T proud.