First Person Singular by Wendy Braitman

Noelle says:

no, no, no.

One of the more annoying cultural constructs we have adopted is the myth of you can have whatever you think up, if you just want it bad enough. “The Secret,” anyone?

This is not the prevailing view in much of the industrialized world, but Oprah and her ilk have gotten very rich sellng that snake oil.

This has lead to a breathtaking sense of entitlement particularly noticeable on reality shows “I should win not because I have talent or put in the work, but because I want it really, really, really, really really bad.”

It also leads to self blame for things we have no control over, such as the absurdity that you can think your way out of illness. Blaming cancer patients for their own illness still happens,

This has come up on this blog before; we are single because we are not “out there” trying hard enough (although everyone who has put up with any of that online bs deserves a lot of credit for being “out there”) because hey, we just don’t want it badly enough.

I suppose to some extent that would be true; I don’t want to be coupled badly enough to put up with lying, cheating, sociopathy, etc., etc., etc.

Sorry, a week in the hospital with too many steroids and painkillers has me ranting. I stand by the points, I might be just a little overly um, emphatic. 🙂

Noelle says:

Thanks, Wendy for your comments. I’m surprised at how coherent it turned out.

Gayle, I completely agree with you as well. It is part of the problem that people think the wanting is enough and don’t want to put in the work. Desire is only the beginning. And the work can be hard but if you have that sense of purpose about what you are doing, no matter what it is, amazing things can happen.

A famous pianist, can’t recall which one, said she often hears, “I love the way you play, I would give anything to play like that.” She tells them, “No, you wouldn’t, or you would be sitting at the piano five or six hours a day, every single day. Period.”