What’s it called when you take something with some truth to it and allow it to slip into an excuse or worse?
The example that comes to my mind right now is, “I’m not suited to do that work because it’s not my strength,” an invocation of the idea that what you are best at is where you should spend your energy and time to be maximally productive and fulfilled.
That advice has the same appealing ring to it as, for example, the Atkins diet (or almost any faddish diet) did for many people a first blush. Just eat bacon and burgers. Only the tastiest morsels is the best approach.
When it comes to making a living, it’s good advice for those with the self-knowledge and means to live it out. But as for making a life, it gets applied too broadly, slipping, as I said above, into an excuse to avoid any work that is unpleasant or difficult, traits that are ubiquitous with personal growth, political progress, and moral imperatives.
The reality is that many of society’s most important roles require that someone embrace the undesirable and be willing to take on work that feels nothing like those pleasant and confidence inspiring pursuits. It’s unsurprising that these roles are often unfilled.
The advice is good where it belongs, suiting abilities and interests to the work that needs doing as efficiently as possible, but when abused to justify the avoidance of any and all difficult and uncomfortable work, then it falls to the few to bear those burden which they no more want to carry than you or I do, and while we can tell ourselves that “they must have a passion for that cause” or “a heart for the poor,” in many cases, they are just less lazy.
Occasionally I’m the one to step up and do the difficult stuff, but by and large, I’m a member of the excuse-making sect. This is as much a letter for myself as it is for anyone else, and I really am curious as to what it’s called when we let good ideas slip into bad justifications if any of you happen to know.