Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Let’s be practical, but let’s still try to attain what we wish. When told that something is “for someone else,” question to motives of the person telling you that.

I first encountered this practice when I was in high school. I attended a small, rural high school in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana (Loranger High School). These places are so small and obscure that all the spelling checkers are telling me that these words are not in the dictionaries.

The guidance counselor constantly told the kids, yes, we were kids, that they should attend some type of vocational-technical training. Attending college was for other people, someone else. The kids believed her. That was too bad.

I have found this many times since. Writing a book, earning PhD, marrying a good person, etc.—these were things for someone else. You should settle for far less.

I do not advocate people blindly quitting their jobs and going for the billion-dollar bonanza. I have see too many people fall into bankruptcy doing that. I am practical, but I am for people trying to attain something they wish to attain.

When someone tells you that your wish is for someone else, not for you, stop and consider the advice. Also consider the source of the advice. Is the adviser trying to keep you out of their own little exclusive and exclusionary club?