{"id":1835,"date":"2009-02-21T20:46:23","date_gmt":"2009-02-22T02:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artofmanliness.com\/?p=1835"},"modified":"2021-06-03T10:12:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T15:12:43","slug":"manvotional-playing-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/manvotional-playing-the-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Manvotional: Playing the Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"nonwhite aligncenter wp-image-1836 size-full\" title=\"vintage rugby\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2009\/02\/lifeisagame.jpg\" alt=\"Vintage men playing rugby in snow ground.\" width=\"500\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/02\/lifeisagame.jpg 500w, https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/02\/lifeisagame-320x212.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Image from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/81982581@N00\/2307827778\/\">paoloboza<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I ran across this poem by an anonymous author the other day. I think it sums up nicely how a man should approach life: play fair, don&#8217;t whine when things don&#8217;t go your way, and bust your butt in everything you do. Play the game of life well, and you&#8217;ll be a success.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Life is a game with a glorious prize,<br \/>\nIf we can only play it right.<br \/>\nIt is give and take, build and break,<br \/>\nAnd often it ends in a fight;<br \/>\nBut he surely wins who honestly tries<br \/>\n(Regardless of wealth or fame),<br \/>\nHe can never despair who plays it fair<br \/>\nHow are you playing the game?<\/p>\n<p>Do you wilt and whine, if you fail to win<br \/>\nIn the manner you think your due?<br \/>\nDo you sneer at the man in case that he can<br \/>\nAnd does, do better than you?<br \/>\nDo you take your rebuffs with a knowing grin?<br \/>\nDo you laugh tho&#8217; you pull up lame?<br \/>\nDoes your faith hold true when the whole world&#8217;s blue?<br \/>\nHow are you playing the game?<\/p>\n<p>Get into the thick of it &#8211; wade in, boys!<br \/>\nWhatever your cherished goal;<br \/>\nBrace up your will till your pulses thrill,<br \/>\nAnd you dare to your very soul!<br \/>\nDo something more than make a noise;<br \/>\nLet your purpose leap into flame<br \/>\nAs you plunge with a cry, &#8220;I shall do or die,&#8221;<br \/>\nThen you will be playing the game.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Do you have an idea for a Manvotional?<\/strong> I could use your help. Please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/contact\/\">email<\/a> me any inspiring poems or essays that you think AoM readers would enjoy. I&#8217;ll of course attribute the Manvotional to you and you can bask in the glory of a well-deserved hat tip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image from paoloboza I ran across this poem by an anonymous author the other day. I think it sums up nicely how a man should approach life: play fair, don&#8217;t whine when things don&#8217;t go your way, and bust your butt in everything you do. Play the game of life well, and you&#8217;ll be a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,42272],"tags":[42295],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-1835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-manhood","tag-manvotionals"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/02\/lifeisagame-500x280.jpg","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/02\/lifeisagame-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2009\/02\/lifeisagame-320x212.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1835"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126102,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1835\/revisions\/126102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1835"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}