The Three Legged Stool
The idea behind this blog is to focus on balanced Catholic masculinity; to maintain an equilibrium between the 'three legged stool' as my father always said. The self is that three legged stool, made up of body, mind, and spirit. As my father always told me, you've got to take care of all three, or the stool will fall.
As Catholic men, we ought to strive to maintain a healthy balance between the three legs, which, when done correctly, ought to radiate virtue and the love of Christ. By disciplining ourselves to do this, we become a 'sturdy stool', if you will; a balanced and strong platform as a man.
When one leg suffers, it's inevitable that another will, and then finally, the last one to trail behind. Before we realize it, we can be a pile of wood on the ground, neglected. To rebuild the stool, you'll need to work on getting the three legs in order together, or the stool will fall due to its imbalance.
So it is with our spiritual lives (as I'm currently experiencing). The body, mind, and spirit work in tandem with one another to create the human experience God intended. We are obligated to maintain the up-keep of the three so that they help support one another equally.
Achieving the balance can be rather difficult given the particular set of circumstances in your life. I, for example, work two jobs and often am away from the home from 6am - 7pm if not later. It's difficult for me to wake up much earlier than 5, and I often even fail at that; I usually rise at 5:30 and hustle to hit the road for my hour commute to my job. I get home after both jobs and then it's time to prepare dinner while playing with my kiddo and then get him ready for bed and then ultimately, put him to bed.
Before I know it, it's 8:30 or so and I've not really had the time to 'wind down.' The reason I mention this slight glimpse into my typical day is because I understand that it can be a labor finding the time to work on my body, mind, and spirit. Everyone has their own scenarios and it may or may not be easy to do so. I find that I am able to only really attend to one, maybe two a day, and even then, it isn't consistent.
It is my inconsistency and lack of discipline that has lead to my own sluggish current reality. Physically, I am far from what I am capable of maintaining. Mentally, I'm a little better off as I love to read, however, if I don't find time to read, my mental stimulation is on hold. Spiritually I have my ups and downs just like the other two.
There are periods where I really 'get it together' and I'm able to get some decent exercise in (maybe not 'ideal'), I wake up early to pray the Liturgy of the Hours before work, and I'm reading some good material regarding theology, philosophy, or apologetics. My life generally 'flows' better when these three are in unison and I am intentional about nourishing each aspect. It is when I fall out of a routine that I recognize the necessity of tending to those three evenly.
The point I am trying to make here is that we know that it's important to work on ourselves in all three categories. I would say that we all ought to take a moment to examine ourselves honestly to see if we're truly trying to build those three 'legs' of the stool to be sturdy. If we aren't, we need to be honest with ourselves about resolving that. To do otherwise is neglecting gifts given to us by God.
