I’ve never much cared for people who reduce things to charts and graphs, and say things like, “If you’re gonna lead you have to read” and “Have you read Bill Mcdouchebaggerson’s ‘Five steps to success’?” I feel sorry for these people. If you are the CEO of a health care consulting firm and you work 16 hours a week and you don’t have a family and your reward in life is “success in itself” you are a sad, sad, person. Sorry Sally, you can’t reduce a human life to a circle graph, and you are being condescending when you tell everyone that you are going to “Empower them to success with your knowledge”.
The funny thing is, you are up there influencing me, you’re reminding me EXACTLY how I never want to be. You represent a crossroads that I hope and pray to never reach. And as to you putting down your “former” business partner (careful to emphasize the word former) for having a family and buying things for them, and being “limited” by them, and telling him he has a “wife problem” I don’t even know how to respond. I guess my mind just wonders to the day when you will be lying in a hospital somewhere dying, and I’d be willing to bet with all the money in my “poor” bank account that you won’t look to a pie chart for comfort, and you won’t have fond memories of all those days spent doing meaningless bullshit and you won’t wish that you had health care consulting clients by your side and you might wish that you had actually done something with your money. Your definition of success may change slightly.
Because while your circle chart contains the words “BEST” “PASSION” and “ECONOMIC” I can’t fit the things that define me into a circle graph, and If I could i certainly wouldn’t use the word “ECONOMIC” in it. God i feel sorry for you! I want to meet you in 50 years and ask you again if you are successful, I want it so badly it hurts. To live in a world surrounded by pads and pens and pie charts and board meetings and no hope and no dreams and no love and no humanity and no late night beer runs and no coffee shop musicians and no walking around downtown just talking and no cuddles and no inside jokes and no horrible, boring, painful trips to the mall to spend all your money on a smile and never feeling the simplistic bliss of just being in the proximity of love and grace and I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore.
So no Sally, I don’t want to be “The Best” and I certainly don’t feel empowered to success by your awesome knowledge. In fact, you offend me. You’ve got the means to do anything you want in this life and you are squandering the opportunity, you DO realize you are going to die right? You aren’t immortal, but I guess they never put that in a circle graph so I can’t expect you to understand it. I could literally go on and on regarding the mind blowing your “steps to success” gave me this morning, but I’ll spare you.
My advice to you? Go buy a boat. I assure you it’s infinitely more rewarding than success itself.
Posted by James Lepine on April 22, 2010 at 11:22 am
I knew you were going to write about this. I could tell from your disposition in class
Just know that I’m right there with ya. But at the same time, I realize that, unfortunately, it IS true that making connections is important. So sometimes you just have to suck it up and smile. I got a business card from her, because she knows people in the music industry in Nashville. And because she’s a human, and she likes helping other people, and she seemed to genuinely care about my “success.” I like and agree with your message here. My challenge: after you’ve blown off your steam, find a way to re-craft the message so that it is LESS cynical and MORE loving. Or else you’ll fall into the same cliched caricature that “Sally” has. Love ya, brother.
Posted by Daniel on April 22, 2010 at 11:43 am
I like that I’m that transparent lol. And in short, you are right and I am wrong. I know that. I tend to do damage to my situation often with my little rebellions. I’m always just so shocked to see people that are so obviously blind to the reality of things. Also, this is creative non-fiction, I actually agreed with some of what she said, and she was sure to tell everyone not to let anyone else define success for them. I can respect that. I made “Sally” a good deal more evil It made for better venting lol.