More and more research shows that men typically go about some things rather differently than most women. These differences can be used by men to help them go about love powerfully, competently and quite successfully. A fair percentage of men, along with not a small number of women, rather naturally think in pragmatic, functional terms. This leads a great many men to think in questions like the following: What is it?, What is it for?, How does it work?, How do you use it?, How do you maintain it?, How much is the right amount?, Can you fix it if it breaks?, How do you improve it?, and Can it be fun?. All these questions are very applicable to men doing well with love and with love relationships. In working to love well all these somewhat male oriented cognitions and puzzlements have good workable answers.
The men who focus on love learning can arrive at practical answers to the above questions and then apply themselves to practicing those answers. They then are likely to do well at love. I know this because throughout all of my years of practicing counseling and therapy slightly more males than females have consistently come to me for help in solving their love life problems. Most of the men learn to do quite well at love, be it with a mate, children, family, comrades, spiritual concerns, or self, etc..
Perhaps you are a man needing or wanting to do well at love, or perhaps you know a man who could stand to learn how to do better at love. Vast numbers of women seem to wish their men would learn how to be more love oriented and generally do better at love. However, these same women often do not sufficiently seem to know how to successfully tell a man the ‘how to’s’ of making improvements in their love understanding, skills or actions. Perhaps that has its origins in the neurological and cultural influenced ways men and women operate differently.
Sadly recent Western cultural influences have sort of taught men to think of love as a woman’s thing, and that to be focused on love is somehow unmanly. This is in spite of the fact that many of the world’s great teachers and theoreticians focusing on love have been men. Buddha, Jesus, Socrates, Plato, and Rumi of the ancient world, and Stendhal, Erich Fromm, Kierkegaard, Harry Harlow, Ashley Montagu of more recent times are but a few of the many good male examples available.
For men to get directed and motivated toward doing well or better at love they usually have to see that there are clear advantages and benefits to doing so. They also need to have clear and fairly precise things to learn and practice, ways to think clearly concerning love and its many dynamics, and recognize ‘manly’ things they may feel when working to improve their love ability. Fortunately all this is doable for men who apply themselves to the task of looking into and practicing healthy real love.
The first question a man may ask himself is, “Will I go to the trouble to really look into love as something to do well at?” After that comes the question, “Will I do what it takes to really do well at love?” If both answers are yes incredible benefits are likely! If the answer to either is no, missing out on life’s most important involvements, most useful powers, and most pleasurable adventures is predictable.
As always, Grow and Go with Love
Dr. J. Richard Cookerly
♥ Love success questions
Have you read the rather male oriented, scientifically based, and quite practical book Love & Survival by Dean Ornish, M.D., published by Harper Collins? Or have you read the rather couple-oriented, highly practical, and also rather scientifically based book Recovering Love (although comfortable reading for most men, by all means oriented to both men and women) written by, I shall add perhaps egotistically, yours truly, Dr. J. Richard Cookerly, hardback published by McGraw-Hill, paperback by Authors Choice of iUniverse?
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