day no. 15,603: harmonious proportion

While reading Brett McKay's The Art of Manliness, Manvotionals: Timeless Wisdom and Advice on Living the Seven Manly Virtues, I came across the following quote...

"The superior man is he who develops, in harmonious proportions, his moral, intellectual, and physical nature. This should be the end at which men of all classes should aim, and it is this only which constitutes real greatness." -- Douglas Jerrold

There is more to being a man than broad shoulders. While being a man is certainly not less than that, it doesn't simply amount to the ability to lift or carry heavy burdens. Men have been given governance of their persons. Self-government is the first responsibility of each and every man. Those who do well as stewards of themselves, by God's grace, are given stewardship and responsibility of others. 

"Authority flows to those who take responsibility." -- Douglas Wilson

A man should manage well what has been given to him: his mind, his body, and his will. He should take responsibility for what he has and steer each to where he has been commanded to drive them.

Luke 2:52
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Too many men are lopsided monstrosities. They have rock-hard abs and jelly-soft brains. They have solid intellects and sordid reputations. They have stellar reputations with everyone in general and the respect of no one in particular. Men were not meant to be one-dimensional. A man may notice his lack of symmetry, but a superior man takes measures to ensure he is growing in every area over which God has given him jurisdiction.