I grew up down the street from the Captain (the guy himself). Werner Von Braun lived about 1/4 mile from there.
Printable View
You're not special. You work for the man! Now shut up and get back to work!
(lousy slacker)
what he said (I love you anyway Bob!)
And which is very good advise. On one hand you have those who think they are "the shit" that they can succeed at anything with no effort just because of who they are. The professor will give them a free A+ because they are "the shit". That is a bad attitude and in many cases a person with such an attitude had either be, very rich and be prepared to buy his/her way to "success" or, have some asset that will win people over. Otherwise they will learn (hopefully) when they start getting kicked in the ass.
On the other hand you have the defeatist. The defeatist has no self confidence or self esteem. He has convinced himself that he is simply incapable of certain things and those who are good in those things are somehow "specially gifted". He places severe restrictions and limits on his own life, Case and point. I was good in math and I decided to get a degree in it and then get a graduate degree. Well, I got the degrees and I think I was successful. It has led me to a few interesting jobs in a few different fields over the years. In any event one of my defeatist friends told me one day that "it is wonderful that I am so specially gifted in the subject and how he could never learn much less earn a degree in such a difficult subject". Much to his surprise I responded to him saying, "I don't feel I am specially gifted in any way, shape, or form". I proceeded to explain to him how I flunked many a math course in high school and how my guidance counselors even told me to avoid math courses as much as possible. But for some reason I never listened to them and I kept taking the courses and struggling through them and somehow as time went on developed an interest. Perhaps it was the challenge of trying to be good at something I was told that I was no good at. In any event I explained to him that the only way I got my degree was through al lot hard work and personal sacrifice. How many times instead of going out and partying I had to sit home and study, and how I spent hours upon hours of every day reading, studying and practicing whether I was in a car, in a subway, a hall, a library, on the street, at home, etc. , . It was no "special gift", just hard work and a desire to succeed at something and I did succeed. It is the truth but somehow my defeatist friend still refuses to believe it and still insists I have a "special gift". At the same time he continues to place more and more limitations and bounds upon himself and what he can do.in life.
In many ways I think the defeatist attitude is far worst and far more self-destructive in the long term than the "I'm the shit" attitude. The "I'm the shit" attitude can often be broken and usually does not last once a dose of reality hits. . But the defeatist attitude is often a lifetime ride, and the defeatist just keeps building more and more walls and barriers around himself.
You said it. I couldn't have said it any better.Quote:
You truly get what you put in. You get kicks to the ass and slaps to the back of the head, as John put it, but that is part of life, and it is reality.
People seem to judge life on a set scale. The problem is that, to me, life is about being happy. What one considers success, regardless of what some may think, is subjective.
I would consider myself successful, and I am happy. The best part of that is that my life has only just begun. It will get better, too. I will see to that. That may sound like conceit but it isnt.
Getting back to Mr. Rogers for a moment, he may have been somewhat before your time, I am not sure. . But, he did a lot to teach and inspire young kids, many of whom had little family support. By telling them "your special" he was trying to tell them "don't give up". He did a lot of good things that may have helped some people into their adult lives. He in no way was trying to tell kids that life is is a freebee. It's important to remember that he was targeting a very young audience, i.e.pre-school. These are kids at an age where they are not even ready to begin to worry about the life of hard knocks and ass kicks.
Why blame Mr. Rogers or the media. Blame society for forcing both parents to work just to keep the bills paid and the kids clothed and fed. In the 60s we saw some two parent homes where the wife started taking extra work to save up a stash but in the 70s it became a necessity just to stay above water.
When all is said and done, it's because governments would rather fight than actually work towards diplomatic ends. Throw in corporations taking advantage of whatever they could to push the market to its fullest. In other words, what the market could bear. They kept on squeezing then and today they are squeezing harder through deregulation and having the foxes watch the henhouse.
You are going to cater to the Koch's one way or another.