In his Ted Talk Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure — and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments.
“The problem is if you really believe in a society where those who merit to get to the top, get to the top, you’ll also, by implication … believe in a society where those who deserve to get to the bottom also get to the bottom and stay there.”
Sadly I can’t hear his precious intervention right now, due to a matter of office cohabitation, but I must admit that statement hit the target now: right in this moment I’m sitting down in my office with a mixed sense of mortification and failure.
It is so true: a strong sense of realism should always be detained, in order to prevent any disillusion.
This doesn’t mean behaving à la ‘bonjour tristesse’, it’s just that keeping our head on our neck avoid these occasional ‘dead-ends’..
But then, even the humiliations prove strong means of personal progress for everyone.
In the end, it’s wise to do things at the best of our chance without expecting a pat in our shoulder. This is the real measure of a responsible person.
Thanks for this post.