I read this book, "Keys to the Kingdom" by Alison Armstrong, and learned more about myself as a man and the stages a man goes through in life.

The author categorizes the stages as page, knight, prince, and king.

There's also the sage, a wizard-like character representing life after retirement.

She points out many issues with modernity, such as equality in the workplace and contraceptives, which confuse the relationship of the birds and the bees into one of trade rather than connection in the search for intimacy.

Trading implies a material exchange of hands.

But the truth is, what a man and a woman bring to a relationship is priceless.

Thanks to this book I have a new outlook on relationships.

I look back at all the bullets I've dodged and in the future all the red flags to watch out for.

Here is a quote I was taken aback by.

Women have an unconscious fear of men being powerful. Since most women don't know how to deal with men directly, and effectively, they prefer for men to be weak and appear manageable. By interrupting a man, or by setting him up with no-win questions, a women could prevent him from expressing himself and diminish his power.