‘Anything is
possible.’
‘You can be anything
you want to be.’
No it isn’t.
No you can’t.
With the best will in
the world, parents, teachers and society in general have repeated these
propositions down the years. Set your mind to it, work hard, and the world is your oyster. You
can achieve anything. No you can’t.
At least, most of us won’t and can’t.
Of course there are
people in the world who do achieve great things, often from very small
beginnings. We hear about these people. We admire them. We make them our role
models. Of course we do. It’s right that we should. Unfortunately, what we
don’t hear about are those who set their mind to it, work hard... and fail. For
every inspirational success story there are probably 999 failure stories. Perhaps
we should add a few nines to this. These stories don’t quite make the news.
Not everyone has the
same opportunities, and not everyone has the same innate abilities. I am going
to be better at some things than others. Part of the path to success is first
of all to identify our available opportunities and to work within our
limitations. This does not mean that we are stuck in some kind predetermined class
or caste system. Many of us will break out. There will be opportunities to
expand our opportunities. But, while the sky might not be the limit, there are
limitations.
Unfortunately the
pervading attitude that everything is possible has created four difficulties
for people today. First, it has created unrealistic expectations. There is only
so much room at the top. Jobs are a resource, and there are simply not enough
of the ‘best’ jobs to go round. It would be an absurd world in which everyone
strived to emulate Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, in which everyone wanted to be a ‘pop
idol’ or a brain surgeon or a corporate lawyer. Then, within each of these ‘top’
professions, there is only limited room at the very top. The success of some at
achieving this position will inevitably be on the back of the failure of many,
many others to do so.
The second thing we
have done is create an unrelenting burden of competition for these top
positions within these top jobs. The economic world sees competition as an
unqualified good. It isn’t. It borrows this concept from evolutionary theory,
in which the fittest survive. Supposedly, competition produces the ‘best’
people for the job. This is nothing more than ideological claptrap. Were I
inclined to be less polite I might invoke bovine excrement at this point.
Unfortunately, those who fill the best positions in the best fields do not
necessarily reach this position on merit. It would, perhaps, be rather cynical
to suggest that they rarely do. In nature, competition is often avoided. While
some animals fight, and fight to the death, most avoid such confrontations after
a symbolic encounter. Let me see. As a lioness I can fight that lioness for her
prey, or I can move over to the next patch of savannah. But there will never be
many lionesses, in any case. There are always only a few positions available at
the top of the food chain. And, in general, gazelles don’t aspire to become
lionesses.
The third thing we
have done is create this hierarchy of jobs in the first place. We have achieved
this by both social and economic means. I can understand why jobs which require
longer and more specialised training tend to result in a higher income, but I
wonder if the income differentials that actually exist are justified. For some
time I worked with people with disabilities. This was hard work, physically and
psychologically. I was required to undertake some very unpleasant tasks... for
the minimum wage. It would be hardly surprising if I were to be a little
resentful of another profession which charges the minimum wage each thirty
seconds or less. I think a strong social argument could be mounted to the
effect that the work of a disability support worker is more valuable than that
of most solicitors or CEOs. But our society shows little evidence of valuing
such work, beyond the occasional word of praise: ‘Oh, I so admire you for the
work you do. Here’s a ribbon for your contribution to society.’ We have made
some jobs seem more important or more attractive than others, often with little
justification.
The fourth difficulty
we have created with our shallow platitudes is in failing to teach people how
to deal with failure and disappointment. These are all but inevitable. It doesn’t
mean you give up. It doesn’t mean you sink into the abyss. It doesn’t even mean
you have to settle for less; because we first have to unlearn the lesson that,
if I don’t become the number one box office star and win two Oscars by the time
I’m twenty-five, I’m settling for less. Becoming a teacher is ‘less’... How exactly?
Becoming a carpenter, a sales assistant, a road sweeper... Who has convinced
you and me that these are less? It really depends on the value system we adopt,
doesn’t it? Is our current hierarchy of jobs the only one, or even the best
one? I will fail at some things. I won’t be a very good sculptor or shepherd or
disability support worker. I will probably fail at even more important things,
such as being a good friend or a good partner or a good human being. Failure is
a valuable part of life.
The important thing is
whether, when I fail, I am willing to get up, dust myself off and try something
else, perhaps even something ‘less’. Positive thinking and a positive attitude
is not the sheer act of will power that some people seem to preach: ‘If you
believe you will succeed, you will!’ If you don’t succeed it must be because
you didn’t try hard enough or believe deeply enough. I smell manure again. Real
positive thinking and a positive attitude means being able to accept my
limitations and my failings, without being totally destroyed by them. It means
being ready and willing to give something else a go.
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