If you have ever had a chocolate eclair sweet, you will have had the the wonderful experience of having chewed through a tough toffee exterior for what seems like minutes on end before a squirt of warm milk chocolate begins to leak from its centre and floods your mouth with the cool, delightful reward for all your efforts.
I have a hypothesis that Alpha Males are like chocolate eclairs. Tough toffee types on the outside, with soft, cool, squishy gooey bits on the inside.
I met two of them (Alphas, that is) in two seperate meetings today. Both friends, one in his twenties, the other in his forties. Both very accomplished in their field and both very well insulated by their own self erected walls. And I set out to test my hypothesis.
Mr. 20-something is tall, slim, very well toned and very soft spoken with dreamy eyes. Mr. 40-something is shorter, slightly more stocky with a Barry White voice and a killer smile. Happily, I happen to be a friend and therefore not very threatening to, well, to the 40 year old. The 20 year old is still finding himself so a strong Boo!! will scare him off. BOO!!! There. We're rid of him so we can talk about him now.
Anyway, back to the point. Here's what I noticed. Both are driven ultimately by the desire to simultaneously protect and for his inner boy to be loved. Despite the tough exterior, both would love nothing more than for someone to take the time to "chew them out" and find that soft interior, although if you do ask, both would say no and probably run. [Evasive maneouvres - very common with these types... They'd rather run than risk being seen for the softies they really]
And it made me think about the greatest men and women in this world. Are the world's greatest leaders just men and women who wanted so badly to protect and love the child within them, that they were willing to take on the world and demand that love?
Could it be that Gandhi just wanted to have a home to go to?
That Martin Luther King Jr.was just tired of not being allowed to sit at the front of the bus?
That Hitler just needed a cuddle?
That Joan of Arc just wanted someone to be proud of her for a change?
Maybe the tougher the exterior, the greater the desire to be known, to be loved, to be cared for.
Or maybe they are just tough leathery ol' so-and-so's.
Somehow, I suspect the former.
Give a mean ol' codger a hug. He'll probably grumble and wiggle out of it, but if you watch him out of the corner of your eye, you'll see the little child in him say, "Thank you."
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Underneath the package, all blood flows red.
(c) Renee Ngamau
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