I never brag about things when they are going well because they back to bit me in the ass, at least that’s what I tell myself.  I try to not make promises, instead I do my best when I do anything, you never know what will be important in the future.  That seems so rational.  I watch what I eat because it’s so easy to go back to an unhealthy diet, so I’ve become extremely particular about how much and what I eat.  I credit myself with being an intelligent well-educated person, so all these habits are done by rational scientific thinking.  Or could that be a crock of shit and I’m superstitious just like every other idiot!

A rational person does not face failure with the idea that more failure will make things better.  Incredibly, that is probably the best way to get good at anything: fail and repeat.  The idea of becoming great at anything is as much superstition as science.  At 8, it was insulting that Serena Williams talked down to other players, but it was that belief that allowed her to achieve more than any other living athlete.  Richard Williams, Serena’s father, knew little about tennis, but his irrational belief that tennis was going to get his daughters off the mean streets of Compton and make them rich pushed them to great heights.  Long before both Venus, Serena’s older sister, won a grand slam, people considered Richard a crazy man. 

The fact is that belief is not rational, and desire can’t be found in a book.  Those intangibles of greatness are like gossamer wings of promise, slight wisps of irrational desire for something or some goal.  Who knew that when young Cornelius Vanderbilt borrowed two row boats and got two kids to help him ferry people back and forth from Staten Island to Manhattan that it would be the start of one of the greatest shipping empires ever.  As a kid, I visited the Planetarium at Vanderbilt Castle, a massive estate on Long Island’s north shore.  Truly, it’s one of the most magnificent homes ever constructed.  Not bad, but certainly not rational!

Every struggling kid is told with hard work you can be successful.  What they failed to mention was that you only get good jobs by knowing someone, but work your ass off digging ditches, that’s hard work!  Young Jeff Beck, never minded getting his hands dirty at the car shop and has worked on cars his 70+ years he’s been alive.  Man or guitar God, it matters not, because Jeff Beck does things to that guitar that virtuosos dream of.  His skill, timing, touch, range, soul, just are stunning and watching this man play a guitar is life changing.  His ability to make the guitar do anything he dreams of is unmatched, and his far reaching eclectic tastes makes him the greatest guitarist.  All rational right? No way! All belief is irrational and to achieve more than others, you must be completely nuts!

Each morning I see affirmations from Facebook and Instagram users say that they are working hard and winners are those who work every day.  I want to send them an email talking about the great people I know and have known: there is nothing rational about success.  The idea of being great is not a scientific idea.  The road is hard and success is not guaranteed.  The worst part of it all is that when you achieve greatness, success means nothing!  The double edged sword of success is that you can’t achieve without desire, and desire becomes more important than success.

If you need to, reaffirm your hard work ethic daily, but keep it to yourself or you’ll jinx yourself! I know it’s not rational, but maybe a bit superstitious isn’t a bad thing.  I’m not saying wear garlic around your neck to ward off vampires, but maybe don’t be mean to someone as they might save your life someday! Yeah I know it’s not scientific, but we both know that “Shit Happens” and you never really know.  Don’t go bat shit crazy this fall, but maybe be careful and aware of who and what is around you.  That black cat might just be a cat walking that way, but…?