Denial Does Not Make It So
"Please Joe, say it ain't so." This little boy's plea to his idol "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, one of eight Chicago White Sox baseball players indicted for accepting bribes from gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series, has become legendary. It has been since used when referring to a famous person involved in a well-publicized scandal.
Unfortunately, what became known as "The Black Sox Scandal" did happen. All eight players, including Mr. Jackson, pleaded guilty before a grand jury to having accepted bribes as high as $5,000 to deliberately lose the series to the Cincinnati Reds. Remarkably, all eight later recanted their confessions and insisted to their dying day that they were innocent of any wrong doing.
We humans are a proud lot. Humility is often touted as a virtue among us, but our ego sometimes gets in the way of actually practicing it. We tend to boast of or at least emphasize our accomplishments and strengths much more often than admit to our failures and weaknesses. We even refuse to accept responsibility for them. It's much easier to blame others or circumstances beyond our control.
Junior could have gotten an "A" on his term paper, if he had done more research and expended more time writing it. But hey, a "C" is good enough. Don't keep score at the kids' soccer games. Merely showing up and running, walking, or even just sitting down in the field and playing in the dirt is good enough.
My father used to say: "It's good enough for government work." Maybe that's why we aren't shocked when the government consistently fails to accomplish much. He had another saying. "Anything worth doing is worth doing well." To succeed in any undertaking, one must strive to excel. A consistently mediocre performance will consistently result in failure.
Wanting something to be the truth will not make it true. Believing something to be reality will not make it real. Accept the fact that nothing worthwhile can be achieved without expending the time and effort required to actually achieving it and you will succeed much more often than you fail. Don't allow false modesty to ever prevent you from accepting the credit for your successes. On the other hand, never allow pride to prevent you from accepting the blame for those times when you fail.
Unfortunately, what became known as "The Black Sox Scandal" did happen. All eight players, including Mr. Jackson, pleaded guilty before a grand jury to having accepted bribes as high as $5,000 to deliberately lose the series to the Cincinnati Reds. Remarkably, all eight later recanted their confessions and insisted to their dying day that they were innocent of any wrong doing.
We humans are a proud lot. Humility is often touted as a virtue among us, but our ego sometimes gets in the way of actually practicing it. We tend to boast of or at least emphasize our accomplishments and strengths much more often than admit to our failures and weaknesses. We even refuse to accept responsibility for them. It's much easier to blame others or circumstances beyond our control.
Junior could have gotten an "A" on his term paper, if he had done more research and expended more time writing it. But hey, a "C" is good enough. Don't keep score at the kids' soccer games. Merely showing up and running, walking, or even just sitting down in the field and playing in the dirt is good enough.
My father used to say: "It's good enough for government work." Maybe that's why we aren't shocked when the government consistently fails to accomplish much. He had another saying. "Anything worth doing is worth doing well." To succeed in any undertaking, one must strive to excel. A consistently mediocre performance will consistently result in failure.
Wanting something to be the truth will not make it true. Believing something to be reality will not make it real. Accept the fact that nothing worthwhile can be achieved without expending the time and effort required to actually achieving it and you will succeed much more often than you fail. Don't allow false modesty to ever prevent you from accepting the credit for your successes. On the other hand, never allow pride to prevent you from accepting the blame for those times when you fail.
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Alicia wrote: "Well said.In the end, you are only responsible to yourself and your own standards. Which should be continually raised.
Interesting that you should mention the government (a large amorphous group..."
Alicia,
"This above all: to thine own self be true..."
William Shakespeare - Hamlet: Act I, Scene 3.
Thank you for viewing the blog post and sharing your personal beliefs.
Jim Vuksic
In the end, you are only responsible to yourself and your own standards. Which should be continually raised.
Interesting that you should mention the government (a large amorphous group with vague standards and little accountability) - where good enough is.
And your father gave you his standards for an individual - you - where good enough isn't.
Unfortunately or fortunately, that's the way it is. It comes down to the individual.