If I can do it, so can you! in Boredoms

There are few phrases I can think of that are as detrimental as that one. It's so easy for us to hurl that pointless "wisdom" at people when we've done well for ourselves. It seems like, at some point, we all start thinking that all humanity is essentially just billions of clones and the only thing that makes us different are the choice we've made as we progressed through life. In case you're someone who does think that way, I'd hate to tell you this but it doesn't work that way. Human beings are not exactly equal. I'm not talking in terms of basic human rights because that should be a given, I mean in other facets: intelligence, talents, abilities, et cetera.

There are some people in life (probably more than there should be) who simply choose to go in bad directions or do nothing to help themselves. There are freeloaders who actively think: "why do I need to do -blank-, when -blank- can do it for me/help me with it/give it to me" but there are people who legitimately cannot catch a break or just get hit time and again by misfortune. I know way too many people who slummed their way through the dirt-poor, paycheck-to-paychek retail grind same as I did and, as soon as they got to a better place in life, turned snobby about it. Now those people hurl self-righteous scorn at people who are stuck in the same pit they were in once.

I can't even begin to imagine the amount of circumstances that exist in the world around us that, at any time, can act for or against us. Maybe you just got a swanky new job with a much better salary and benefits and now you think how much better you were than the people you beat out for it but consider all the things that may have influenced the person who interviewed you. Did you ever know someone when you were a kid in school (maybe you were this person) who always said that their teacher just didn't like them and that's why they did poorly? That's probably bull, but there's not a human being on Earth who doesn't at least occasionally make arbitrary judgements for or against someone for no good reason. Maybe, just maybe, you weren't the best person for that job but the interviewer just saw something in you they liked more than the other candidates. Have some damn humility.

Seriously though, I think we all need to just remember that we all don't have an equal chance to be president of the United States or an oscar-winning actor or a rockstar. I'm not saying you have to be Captain Charity and go about helping everybody that has trouble getting out of those life pits, just don't be such an asshole about it. You're doing well for yourself? Great! All that success can be torn away just as easily as it came. While I'm at it, "there's someone out there for everyone" is crap too. It's statistically ridiculous. But I can meet you halfway on that, imaginary person I'm arguing against in my head. Let's say there is someone for everyone...but that doesn't mean they both exist at the same time. My perfectly tailored match may have died centuries ago or has yet to be born. I know that's depressing to think about but blind optimism can just as harmful in the long run as crushing pessimism(also known as reality).

The moral of the story is: let's all stop being dicks.