Being Self-Aware About Your Talents
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/10/05
Mr. Melvin Lars is a native of Bossier City/Shreveport, Louisiana; he received several undergraduate and graduate academic degrees from various universities; La. Tech. (BS) Univ. & Centenary (Admin. Cert.) College) in Louisiana, Texas (Tx. Southern (MA) Univ), Michigan (Eastern, Mi Univ, & Saginaw Valley St. Univ.) and has done extensive educational studies in Ohio (Youngstown (Supt., cert.)St Univ) and California (Los Angeles, (CA. cert) City College).
Lars is a certified Violence Prevention/Intervention Specialist, receiving his certification and training through the prestigious Harvard University, with Dr.Renee Prothro-Stith.
He is a licensed/ordained Elder/Minister in both the C.O.G.I.C. & C.M.E. Churches. He is the CEO/founder of Brighter Futures Inc; a Family Wellness, Violence Prevention/Intervention and Academic Enhancement and entertainment Company; an affiliate representative for the NFL ALLPRODADS Initiative. Former interim; Executive Director of Urban League of Greater Muskegon, Former NAACP President of Muskegon County; 2007–2012, employed as a consultant to the Michigan Department of Education as a Compliance Monitor for the (NCLB Highly Qualified) initiative for Highly Qualified Teachers and works collaboratively with Hall of Famer Jim Brown and his Amer-I-Can Program and is a ten-time published author of various books, and self-help and academic articles. He is married to Ann Lars and is the father of one adult son, Ernest. Here we talk about sports and pride in an uncensored and educational series.
The conversation, this time, with Lars delved into an arena of greater experience for him. He has a deep history in American history and culture, especially American football. So, I asked Lars about it. I drew attention to the, appearance of “bravado and ego” involved in college and higher-level football. Then I asked about younger men keeping “their ego in check.”
Lars responded, “[Laughing] Scott, when we speak, I am always laughing. I am dealing with life, the real world. To answer that question, specifically, you have to start off with something. When you are involved in sports, certainly at a high level, it is always about being the alpha male. No one talks about it. No one says, ‘You have to be the alpha male.'”
He goes to talk about the fact of the perception. It is simply in the air, in the spirit of the community, around the game. The attention of the alpha male, and its lofty status, is highly attractive to many young men. But, Lars noted talking about the game is one thing and playing the game is another.
“Certain individuals are born with more speed or strength. They are able to build themselves better than the others on top of their natural gifts and talents, and blessings. Many times, you get beside yourself. What is getting ‘beside yourself’? You get full of yourself,” Lars explained.
At some point, a sufficient amount of self-awareness creeps into the mind of the young man. They comprehend: they have an enhanced level of speed, endurance, and strength compared to the other men. Lars noted coming to this realization with some excessive pride, too. He did not want to be a hypocrite. So, he spoke about it.
Lars stated, “I have been full of myself, in trying to be the alpha male. Shakespeare said, ‘To thine own self be true.’ He meant that we have to get in touch with ourselves and realize what we’re doing. In the final analysis, it is a game. Far too often, we take the game too seriously.”
This brought to mind one of the greatest boxers ever, Muhammad Ali. I have source amnesia of who said this. But they, more or less, noted Muhammad Ali’s braggadocious demeanour was not exactly derogatory because, in a sense, you felt good with him. It was more theatrics than putdowns.
Lars agreed. He said, “You know what, Scott, it has been my experience too. I am a huge Muhammad Ali fan. In high school, I was also a Golden Gloves boxing champion. I had the opportunity to go to the Olympic trials, for the 1972 trials.”
He focused attention on individuals who are over-the-top or braggadocious. In that, some remain conditioned, as athletes in sports culture, to be the alpha male. However, there is a neglected fact, according to Lars, or an overlooked piece of information: Muhammad Ali “worked extremely hard.”
His persona tied to the powerful prowess in the ring were a formidable force. But it came with three things: innate talent, hard work, and very high levels of charisma. Lars related the sense of pride when realizing the status has been attained.
“Other people also begin to receive your abilities as being the alpha male as well. With a person, in my experience, of someone like a Muhammad Ali, who was colourful and charismatic, it comes from the personality. He worked extremely hard,” Lars relayed, “When we talk about athletics, we have to understand. There is so much work to becoming the quintessential top-of-the-line athlete. A lot of people do not understand that part of it. They believe: you’re born with this ability to dominate.”
This, Lars believes, is the crucial point about not being full of ourselves; where the “work and time” put into becoming the potential alpha male, and if achieved, there comes the sense of “pride and accomplishment.” Then this comes with respect from others, too. He closed on Ali; a personal hero for him.
“Ali was an entertainer. But when it came to perfecting his craft, he was blessed to be able to perfect it,” Lars concluded. It is the same for those at the lower levels or less talented, or as talented but working in other sports. Pride can be a block to continuing to work hard and maintain the status of “alpha male.”
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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.
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