Posts Tagged ‘helping others’

When you’re coping with difficult problems, it’s easy to slip into self-absorption. We become so caught up in our troubles that they become the center of our universe. And if we’re not careful, we can start behaving like we should be the center of everyone else’s universe, too.

Few people juggle more problems at one time than the leader of the free world. After taking over the presidency in the worst possible circumstances—the murder of his predecessor in 1963—Lyndon Baines Johnson was managing an escalating war in Vietnam, anti-war protests at home, civil rights battles in the South, the introduction of Medicare, urban riots, the space race, and crises in the Middle East.

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Recently I settled in to watch a DVD of my favorite reality cooking series. In an early episode, one of the contestants, already a successful chef, confided to the cameras that he’d decided to appear on the program to show his children he’d done something with his life.

His honest confession made me a little sad.

The idea that you have to appear on television—gain some measure of fame and public recognition—to validate your life explains everything from reality TV to … well … blogging. But it’s a flawed perspective.

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