Empowered masculine is an exercise in balancing opposing forces: strength and gentleness. Being empowered helps men walk the spiritual path with practical feet. An empowered man owns up to personal problems and is a role model, protector and provider and encouraging those around him to become better people.

The warrior, artist and magician are important archetypes of the dynamic energy that the masculine self-embodies. Strategy, time management and the other systematic processes required to effectively manifest one’s dreams are a big part of it.

Empowering the masculine self allows men to be in the world and be effective in the world, with whatever they do.  An Empowered man does not compare his gifts and self to other people. He understands that competition is death and that there are enough resources to meet the needs of all. He strives to maintain his power by lifting people up instead of tearing them down in order to make himself feel more powerful. An empowered man understands that the source of true power is beyond himself and does his work with humility.

He’s confident in his abilities; he holds himself as able. At the same time, he has clear discernment regarding his strengths and weaknesses and the ability to ask for help when necessary. He is certain of himself and cannot be swayed by any force. Simultaneously, he has access to his reflective, more feminine capabilities in order to not become rigid and inflexible in his thinking.

He pursues what has a deep heart and meaning. He balances strength with compassion, kindness with courage, a peaceful spirit and a warrior’s heart. He is a protector of his family and loved ones. However, his definition of ‘loved ones’ is expanded enough that he is committed to protecting and preserving this world in safekeeping for future generations. He is a generative, dynamic, shielding, driving force of Nature.

Women naturally have an immense potential for personal and spiritual power in the world. An empowered man is different from a woman but has his own equally valuable gifts and talents to offer. Each of his gifts is required to bring balance to the relationship between the sexes, and the world in general. So an empowered man needs to keep his ego in its place in order to work with women, with people more or less powerful than he is, and anybody else who could trigger his unhealthy patterns.

Self-confidence can be an issue for a lot of men. Often their egos are easily bruised when they are made to feel not able or deficient. Issues around money and power can also make men feel deficient if there is a lack. Fear of not having or being enough is common. They may feel little self-confidence around women like they are not enough to please the women that they want to, which leads to low self-esteem and acting out.

It can feel like the only feelings that men are allowed to experience by society are self-confidence and anger. This sets up a vicious cycle of painful transactions for the ego of the power-starved man. Depression is an issue that can often come up, as it’s impossible to meet such stringent emotional demands. They can feel isolated emotionally if they have no one to talk to about these things.

Masculine Issues

Masculine issues are largely the same as women otherwise, with the caveat that they are running a program where their feelings usually don’t enter into the equation. Denial, fear and other defenses against living from the heart may arise. They are often too busy with work and life obligations to even notice that internal boundaries have been crossed or that emotional triggers have been triggered.

Men are expected to be calm and self-controlled at all times but receive mixed messages about expressing anger. Anger can help push through difficult situations or help deal with emotions. The consequences of living this way are swept under the rug because exploring emotions may be considered too “feminine.” Men will turn to sports, violent movies and games as an outlet, with varying degrees of success. Men may suffer from Peter Pan syndrome if their parents, especially their mothers, did not give them the life skills necessary to take care of themselves.

Masculine Conflicts

There are conflicts between taking care of themselves and providing for others, between fulfilling the needs of their egos and their hearts. When men find themselves unable to satisfy everyone’s expectations, they may blame society, or they may turn the guilt inward, using it to push themselves harder in order to achieve goals. This leads to feelings of exhaustion and emptiness. Issues with commitment may come up as they keep pushing themselves only to find that the rewards they expected are not forthcoming. There are many reasons why men have issues with commitments in life and relationships; a lack of positive role models is common.

Resistance to change may be great because to stop and reflect is death. So denial helps them maintain an unhealthy equilibrium and continue working as usual. Instead, they may turn to addictions to numb their pain and escape temporarily from an untenable situation. When things get really bad, the soul-searching occurs, and impetus for change propels them into redefining their identities. This is when men start to take a more critical look at their career path and the roles that have been imposed on them, both from without and within.