“To be or not to be-that is the question” is a phrase that most of us would recognize as a line from Hamlet. When Hamlet speaks this line, he is contemplating suicide. ‘To be’ is another way of saying ‘to exist’. To exist could mean literally to exist as in be alive, or it could mean to live in history as a great person. One way to live in history is to be successful like Pat Riley.
Although Pat Riley was a successful coach, he called success the “disease of me.” (Dweck, p.210, 2008) A disease is an infection that causes harm to a person, and lives in a person’s body until it is stopped or the person dies. Like a disease, success causes side effects to a person, and success continues on until it is stopped or the person dies. The side effects of success can be good or bad. The good side effects could be fame and fortune, or the bad side effects could be destruction upon the person’s household.
I think Pat Riley meant by his statement that he has had much success, and sometimes it has not always been for the best. It is like the Disney movie Hercules. Hercules wants to rejoin his parents on Mount Olympus, but first he must become a true hero before he can become a god again. He obtains his godship by exchanging his life for Meg’s, the girl he is in love with. However, if he rejoins his parents, he cannot be with Meg. But if he stays with Meg on Earth, he cannot live an immortal life as a god. The success of being a god had side effects.
In response to Pat Riley’s comment Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, would probably say something along the lines of, success is a good thing and even if it has some bad side effects, it will all work out in the end. He would probably also say that the coach’s success had a lot to do with how much practice time he put in as a basketball player. I would agree with Gladwell if he did say this. Success can be good or bad, but usually it only comes through hard work. If you work hard at something, you are bound to be successful. This coach probably was no different. He worked hard, and he was successful.
Just a heads up, after the colon, only the first word should be capatilized. Not trying to critique you, just don't want you to lose points for not being fully in APA or whatever. :).
ReplyDeleteI love how you say success can cause side effects. Side effects are usually slow to come on, and once you recognize them, you sometimes oversee them to be something totally unrelated. I think that is why success can be so dangerous.
I never thought of success having side effects but now it does make sense. Also, what Ali said about things happening that seem totally unrelated makes sense too. It's crazy how success in one area of life can spill over to another and lead to more success. The same can be said about failure. I know this sounds like a fixed mindset idea, but confidence is extremely important and a little success can go a long way to helping produce more success.
ReplyDeleteTo Ali: Thanks, but a little too late!
ReplyDeleteTo Ryan: I have to agree on the confidence part of success. You can't go anywhere without some degree of confidence.
I really liked how you were able to incorporate so many different referenes into your answer to the prompt. The allusion to Hercules really made the point for success being truly a matter of perception and I couldn't agree more. The fact that you mention that success can have side effects is consistent with the idea that "success is the disease of me", which i felt was a great way to conclude your response.
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