Slarty's World

“Always remember you are unique. Just like everyone else.”

I am reading a book given to me by a client friend called “The Art of Demotivation,” written by E.L. Kersten, Ph. D. The above quote is from one of his illustrations. The book is a riot – although not very appropriate in a PC corporate climate. But I read it with tongue in cheek. I like the following excerpt, mainly because I think in order to survive in life, I have convinced myself that the emotions I feel are the same as everyone else’s and that my skills and abilities are basically the same as everyone else’s. (Even though my brother-in-law calls me a “goofy bastard, ” which makes me feel like I am at least a bit unique).

The insights peddled to you employees [by motivational consultants] revolve around ideas that they are uniquely equipped to do something special, that they have a proprietary configuration of under appreciated skills that they have yet to discover (or show any evidence of), that their weaknesses really are strengths, and that they are winners who have simply not had a chance to win. They are regaled with stories about people like Thomas Edison who regarded failed experiments as stepping stones on the path to scientific discovery, and they end up concluding that their own personal histories of failure and non-achievement are signs that they are bound for greatness. In this systematic distortion of reality, they learn to label their stubbornness as conviction; their bad attitudes as a passion for justice; their willful subversion of the company’s goals as a unique, under appreciated perspective on how the company should proceed; and their general surliness as a natural response to a global lack of appreciation for their supremely valuable uniqueness.
-The Art of Demotivation, E.L. Kersten, Ph. D.

I see myself (or perhaps a past self) in this description. The sooner one gets over the feeling that they are a unique individual in the world the better. Everything has been felt before. Not much new is done. The key is to enjoy the ride.