I'll throw this out there, just in case there are some like-minded people on this site who are afraid to speak up (I assume we are the minority though). I don't pretend to be an expert, I've given horrible advice before, so for what it's worth:
I myself have a very old-school take on life/sucess. So basically I am of the opinion that "a man without a family is half a man." Kids tend to smooth over a man's coarse edges, and a good woman (or dare-I-say "wife") can make a man more successful in life, and able to attain/accomplish more, than if he was single.
(Now before we start the mud slinging, I'm not saying doing anything else is wrong or incorrect, I'm all for people doing whatever the hell they want.)
In my opinion, the measure of a Man is the ability for one to step outside himself, and not just live for himself. This isn't to say that sacrificing your own interests for the sake of others' is the right thing either. But as the army teaches, one you have yourself squared away, go help your brother. Whether you do it because your mother said so, or because you are being selfless, or because a drill seargent is hollering in your ear, to me it is a no-brainer: you can sit there with your thumb up your ass, or you can help your buddy out.
This too equates to my take on marriage/kids. Once you have yourself squared away, and have accomplished everything you feel is "necessary" while flying solo, the next step is making a life outside of yourself. You have a wife whom you can rely on to give you an alibi for when the cops come knocking (or just close the garage door because you forgot to). You provide security, money, safety. She in turn is a mother to your children, giving them a good environment to grow and learn in, instead of a daycare center filled with single-moms' screwed-up kids. She keeps her eye open for business opportunities for you, and of course gives amazing blow-jobs.
And with regards to kids, I feel it is a man's way to live forever. To raise your kids to be successful and good citizens, to raise them to participate in and contribute to the society that you are proud to exist in, is a noble thing. You teach your son to fish, and when he in turn is teaching his own son to fish, you exist forever. As Men, we tend to be coarse and hard, with a "do it my way or get out of my way" attitude. With a little 6 month old, you can't do that. You learn infinite patience. This in turn helps you when you are trying to angle for an equity position in the firm you're working for, when patience will very much get you where you want to be.
Granted, there are a few flaws that a Man must watch out for when chasing the traditional angle. You 100% can't make this work with a bar-star new-age knucklehead girl who is high on independence and feminist tendencies. You need a girl who is on the same page, who understands the arrangement, or you will be taken for a ride. The same goes for a man who is masquerading as a Man: until you have yourself squared away properly, you will find it difficult to achieve what you want out of life, as well as to provide properly for what a "traditional" life requires. I fully admit if you chase this dream with the wrong girl, you will be taken for everything you own, and your girl will run off with the pool boy, your perfect 2.4 kids, and golden retriever in tow.
The same for your kids. You understand that they are little people with their own ideas: they aren't a clone of you. If you try and force your beliefs and opinions on them, you can wind up creating a monster. All you can hope to do is lead them in the right direction. A Truth is a Truth, and those are universally understood. A Man should be spending his time searching for these Truths, and passing them on to the next generations, so that they don't have to suffer and slave through the same nonsense we had to.
A line from a movie that I watched once has continually run true for me: "What kind of Man is a Man who doesn't try to make the world a little bit better each day?" Yes, this of course can be misconstrued and overly romanticized, but I feel it still sums the pursuit of Life up rather well.
Again, everyone has their own opinions, and I'm not saying they are wrong. What works for one guy isn't the best thing for the next guy. I just know that when I am 92, dying in a hospital bed, I would like to be surrounded by family and friends, and be able to see what impact I've had on the world around me. The measure of my life won't be in how many HB10s i've nailed, or how many times I dodged bi t ch shields, but instead measured by the number of tears on the floor when I'm gone.
*edit* Just to clarify though, a guy has to live how he wants to live, otherwise you get resentful and then life sucks. As long as you are happy, you are on the right track. So like they say, "different strokes for different folks."
