True, fact is not stranger than fiction in most cases.
One point you bring up is accountability. My life didn’t go as planned because of “NAME EXTERNAL SOURCE HERE”. My kid lost because the ref/coach/other kid cheated. I lost my job because it was outsourced/cutbacks/economy (more on this in a minute).
Truth is, everyone deals with the same bullshit (except the few uber rich and powerful, if you think they wake up worrying about their mortgage…they don’t but rest assured, they worry about other shit- it’s human nature to worry.)
Most people feel powerless, so they need a reason to feel powerless. Religion, conspiracy theories and the like give people justification for the crap that goes wrong in their world. Instead of facing the cold hard truth: some decision you made lead you to this situation. Sometimes people are better than you, sometimes refs make bad calls, sometimes your usefulness is no longer needed for that particular task. It what you do when it all goes south that makes the difference.
Back to getting laid off. Living where I do gives me exposure to a lot of financially successful people. Some trust fund babies, some criminals but for the most part, a lot of successful entrepreneurs. One of the guys has his hand in several businesses. He made a comment the other day that really hit home. He said if you can’t “reinvent” yourself you’re never going to survive in this world.
This hit home. Looking at my life I have done this 6 times and will continue to do so until the world is done with me. The days of hanging on to a job/ career or working for the same company for 30 years and retiring with a gold watch and a pension are long gone (about 10 years long gone). It’s up to you to make you’re own retirement plan, it’s up to you to find opportunity. It’s out there, you just have to be able to recognize it, which isn’t always easy.
So when you’re job lays you off and someone in India is dong your job, it’s time to go figure out what else you can do. Everything is temporary: enjoy the good, endure the bad. Nothing is permanent except death.
Wow, that was one hell of a tangent. I guess it comes down to accountability and searching for solutions instead of complaining about the problem. It’s like a drowning man describing the water instead of grabbing the lifesaver.
Shit happens to everybody, the successful people just deal with it while the majority of people complain about it.
