Idealism trumps practicality every time because we are to focused on how things should be and not what they could be. Practicality breeds possibility and idealism breeds disappointment.
-Me, Just now
Recently a friend asked me when I was going to blog again. I can certainly say that my absence hasn’t been because of lack of material, but rather just the opposite. I explained to her that the month of September was probably the worst month of my entire life (yes I’m a bit dramatic in real life) as far as work was concerned. I had put in 40 plus hours of overtime and didn’t go one single day, including weekends, without doing something for my job and it was all in the name of billable hours and due dates. The one word that kept creeping up into the back of my mind the entire month was: Expectations. I spent the entire month being so bogged down professionally and personally that I felt as if I could simply not do everything that was expected of me. We have all experienced unrealistic expectations in our lives that have been placed on us either from ourselves or from others. I’m a firm believer in practicality. Want to know why? Because practicality is strength based. We take the things we are good at and we make them better. We take the things we aren’t so good at and we make them better. We accept the things we cannot control and we admit our mistakes and shortcomings. We say things like, “Next time we need to…” instead of “What we should have done was…” We are productive and future oriented and we are not idealistic. Idealism is not strength based. It’s a constant focus on what we lack. It’s ignoring the progress we have made and cutting ourselves down because it isn’t good enough. It’s constantly reminding ourselves of all of the things we are not and of our mistakes and errors. It’s conditional and rigid with no room for human fallibility.
So what expectations do I feel are placed on me? There are five people I feel as if I’m expected to be which I’m going to span out over a series of posts. Here is number one:
Superman
Now, I’m more of a Batman fan myself…mostly because I secretly dream of having a butler who hangs out in my basement and designs outrageously awesome super-hero gadgets and serves me tea. The reason I think I’m expected to be Superman and not Batman is simple. Batman is human and Superman is extraterrestrial. Being human is practical. Being an alien with superhuman powers is not. Allow me to demonstrate.
Idealistic: Drop everything right at that very moment, duck into the nearest telephone booth, change into tights and a cape in a millisecond and fly through the atmosphere at the speed of light to rescue the innocent victim of a nasty crime. Use superhero powers to detain/knock out the bad guys in about 3.4 seconds. All bystanders are impressed and in awe of the awesomeness they have just witnessed. After the victim is rescued, he or she is extremely grateful, sings the rescuers praises, and all is well because peace has been restored.
Practical: In the middle of typing an 11 page Mental Health Assessment that is due that day, I receive a phone call from the answering service saying I have a crisis call and I have to go to the hospital to do an assessment. I then spend the next 30 minutes rearranging my afternoon appointments, packing up my belongings and inhaling my now cold Subway Roast Beef sandwich. I get into my car because it’s 2011 and vehicles are the new phone booths. I realize that I’ve forgot my ID badge on my desk so I climb the three flights of stairs back up to my office to get it. After I answer the questions of the two coworkers who have stopped me on my way out the door, I’m finally ready to leave and I drive the speed limit because I don’t want to ruin my perfect driving record. I arrive at the Emergency Room and spend the next 2-5 hours screening, assessing, and counseling all parties involved. I don’t have any superhero powers but I do own an iPhone which is almost just as good except that it doesn’t get service in the ER so every time it rings, I have to excuse myself to the smokers area of the parking to take the call. Halfway through the assessment, I realize that the “victims” are usually not that innocent and the “crimes” that had been reported may or may not be as severe as originally reported. Those being rescued are not always grateful. They do not always sing my praises. The bystanders a.k.a doctors, teachers, and parents do not always stand in amazement at my work because they don’t agree with whatever decision I have made. And all is rarely well in the world because peace cannot always be restored in one afternoon.
I will never be Superman. I will only ever be me. What about you? Do you ever feel as if you are expected to be the superhero?
