Romanticizing suffering is a young man's practical mistake. It's a part that should largely be left untouched, in my opinion. The only distinction that truly matters is in the eyes of the lesser god of conscience residing within you. There are many great men, in a comparative sense, that overshadow and outshine others - yet, in relation to their own highest potential - have not really achieved much. In truth, a man's primary metric for distinction is his current self pitted against the peak of his potential. In the eyes of Absolute Awareness, a man's greatness is measured only by pitting his current self against the intuitive knowing of his utmost masculine expression. Men who are true to their potential are those who receive worldly blessings - even if their strides seem small. As for procreation, I believe in the opposite of what many faiths do. In the past, it was taught that birthing children triggered creation to give you any required resources. In this new age, I'd only procreate if the world showered me with finances beforehand. Too many humans. At its ultimate truth, there's only one reason why, within our short illusory living in this world - that creation would grant any man resources /beyond/ what he requires. It is for good works, or for the caretaking of children. The children of now are gentle souls, not primal. This means that, for the eventual ascension and deletion of this world to occur, the children gestated and birthed from within its many wombs need to have a gentler starting point. They must be born into promise and abundance, not primality and savage, animalistic expression.