Тонкое искусство пофигизма

           Whenthestudentadmitstohimself,“Youknow,maybeI’mnotarebel;maybeI’mjustscared,”thenhe’sfreetobeambitiousagain.Hehasnoreasontofeelthreatenedbypursuinghisacademicdreamsandmaybefailing.

           Whentheinsuranceadjusteradmitstohimself,“Youknow,maybethere’snothinguniqueorspecialaboutmydreamsormyjob,”thenhe’sfreetogivethatscreenplayanhonestgoandseewhathappens.

           Ihavebothsomegoodnewsandsomebadnewsforyou:thereislittlethatisuniqueorspecialaboutyourproblems.That’swhylettinggoissoliberating.

           There’sakindofself-absorptionthatcomeswithfearbasedonanirrationalcertainty.Whenyouassumethatyourplaneistheonethat’sgoingtocrash,orthatyourprojectideaisthestupidoneeveryoneisgoingtolaughat,orthatyou’retheoneeveryoneisgoingtochoosetomockorignore,you’reimplicitlytellingyourself,“I’mtheexception;I’munlikeeverybodyelse;I’mdifferentandspecial.”

           Thisisnarcissism,pureandsimple.Youfeelasthoughyourproblemsdeservetobetreateddifferently,thatyourproblemshavesomeuniquemathtothemthatdoesn’tobeythelawsofthephysicaluniverse.

           Myrecommendation:don’tbespecial;don’tbeunique.Redefineyourmetricsinmundaneandbroadways.Choosetomeasureyourselfnotasarisingstaroranundiscoveredgenius.Choosetomeasureyourselfnotassomehorriblevictimordismalfailure.