[LJI Home Game: Week 30, Part 5] Perfect Crystal Balls
So many messages out there pushing us past our comfort level, pushing us to take risks.
Scared money never wins.
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Find a way, or make a way!
Yeah, that sort of thing. In the end, they're not messages I'm all that fond of. Especially because they have this un-handy way of combining with the idea that people in dire straits got there because they did DUMB SHIT and therefore it's all their fault.
Are we all supposed to have perfect crystal balls? To know that this is the time we absolutely must do things 100% by the rules and by the book, while that is the time we can-should-must ignore all rules because if we don't play we can't win? Are we supposed to endure the endless I-told-you-so from the smug so-and-sos whose crystal balls predict the recent past with complete accuracy thanks to the benefits of hindsight?
How is that supposed to benefit anyone after the fact?
Are we passing out ultra-enhanced Time Turners with our scathing criticism, so that people can actually go back and fix their (perceived) fuckups?
And if we do - have we any idea what else we may be breaking?
I'm tired of people being told to take risks they aren't comfortable with, while being told NOT to take risks they ARE comfortable with. (And sometimes it feels like by "people" I mean men in the first instance and women in the second. Not always, but often enough to notice it.)
So, I'm not going to kick myself for staying in a bad relationship longer than I should have or failing to invest in Intel during the dot-com boom or buying a house (or buying THIS house I live in) or...whatever. I'll learn what I can and move on.
Scared money never wins.
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
Find a way, or make a way!
Yeah, that sort of thing. In the end, they're not messages I'm all that fond of. Especially because they have this un-handy way of combining with the idea that people in dire straits got there because they did DUMB SHIT and therefore it's all their fault.
Are we all supposed to have perfect crystal balls? To know that this is the time we absolutely must do things 100% by the rules and by the book, while that is the time we can-should-must ignore all rules because if we don't play we can't win? Are we supposed to endure the endless I-told-you-so from the smug so-and-sos whose crystal balls predict the recent past with complete accuracy thanks to the benefits of hindsight?
How is that supposed to benefit anyone after the fact?
Are we passing out ultra-enhanced Time Turners with our scathing criticism, so that people can actually go back and fix their (perceived) fuckups?
And if we do - have we any idea what else we may be breaking?
I'm tired of people being told to take risks they aren't comfortable with, while being told NOT to take risks they ARE comfortable with. (And sometimes it feels like by "people" I mean men in the first instance and women in the second. Not always, but often enough to notice it.)
So, I'm not going to kick myself for staying in a bad relationship longer than I should have or failing to invest in Intel during the dot-com boom or buying a house (or buying THIS house I live in) or...whatever. I'll learn what I can and move on.