Some stories that we tell about ourselves are constructive.
Of course, we should want to be “the land of the free and home of the brave.”
On the other hand, ideas such as defending “the American way of life” may be
destructive. Huh? What was that?
This old American way of life has involved the belief that
“we’re the best.” Although it is a practical impossibility, you can still hear
it at every team rally. It involved the belief that everyone is special so that
every child in a group had to receive an award for something. It involved the
belief that “we deserve the best” just because we are us. We spent decades
being urged to put anything we wanted on credit; America was going to spend its
way into prosperity. And then the bubble burst.
I recently wrote about the important effect that our
emotional approach to “now” has on our happiness. Guilt about our past should
inform our choices, but not overwhelm our ability to enjoy a better life. “Now”
is precious because it is our only opportunity to enjoy the moment, do
something virtuous or make a decision to improve the future.
There are those in the new-age movement who seem obsessed
with the current moment that is now.
These people hold that, because the past and future cannot be directly
experienced, they are no better than illusions — the only thing that can happen
is happening now. This is true enough, as far as it goes.
"We are undergoing a mobilization of the will in human affairs. Collectively, individual will will will-out. We are not alone and impotent when we share a common vision."
~ David Satterlee
Last week, I talked about how good it was when individuals approached their lives proactively rather than reactively. You often can’t enter an open door of opportunity if you’re not already prepared. However, in groups, too much general proactivity can be disruptive. In stable groups, harmony and respect for traditions can be comfortable and help to bind members together.
In business, an employee is often tempted (or required) to be reactive. They may be content to do what they are told – simply doing their job and then coming back tomorrow and doing the same job in the same way. That is not bad in itself. When the job doesn’t change and the rules are well-known, the same responses in the same recurring circumstances keep things going smoothly.
People who like predictability, and like for things to remain as they were before, can be happy doing this kind of work, especially if they are part of a team and able to share social connections.
I’m not just talking about low-wage or low-skill jobs. A professional is, by definition, expected to be a highly-trained practitioner of a narrow specialty. In fact, you can expect that the more training they get, the narrower their specialty. They go to school and learn a great deal about a field such as architecture or law. And, having mastered the accepted standards of their specialty, they
