Musings: No time to bleed

Jesse Ventura's book, I Ain't Got Time to Bleed (from one of his lines in Predator), refers to the mission-oriented male mentality that personal inconvenience (including pain or injury) is beneath consideration and should brook no delay. In other words, if it hurts when I hit my head on something, I just haven't hit my head often enough to get used to it yet; or I can simply ignore it. Men need to "take a licking and keep on ticking" -- largely because in war or emergency situations, they must -- just as most women will grab the tiger by the tail when the welfare of a child is involved.

Of course, that's macho crisis thinking which is stupid in daily life. Civilization is about taking advantage of medical care, taking an Advil as needed, daily grooming and so on. I say this because I know men who won't see a doctor on principle. I myself didn't take Advil (or anything) on principle, until a recent injury helped me reshape such thinking. It's for the same reason I order "just coffee" at Starbucks instead of some double-tall-skinny-caramel-mocha-latte-cino concoction that requires standing around for 15 minutes: Too much trouble.

Macho thinking is all about embracing crisis -- from warrior to workaholic -- yet avoiding life's little conveniences as "too much trouble." It's unhealthy and displays mismatched priorities outside of any crisis or competitive setting.