In the waning days of 2011, deep in the throes of “Election Campaign 2012”, we’re being inundated with candidates of every ilk – though ultra-wealthy all – holding forth on their respective Rosetta Stone solutions to currently unsound government practices, policies and personnel, feeding our fervent hope for more soundly based governance and a better world. We listen intently for that indelible ray of sunshine that will FINALLY bring us to Nirvana, and we hear snipets of what EVERYONE likes to hear [remember, “Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee!” … or the American Dream, or apple pie … ], but, in the end, more of us will be voting against candidates that don’t measure up to our liking than will vote for the winning candidates. It seems that, in each election, we look in vain – with unreasonable hope – for that candidate who can serve everyone’s best interest “beyond reasonable doubt”.
In fact, nobody can. There are too many issues to consider and too many conflicting vested interests. No, Virginia, there really isn’t any Santa Claus. The poor want taxes raised on the rich and the rich want fewer taxes, period. And the winning candidates are generally the most indebted to wealthy special interests who expect their interests to be served first best. So, after a short honeymoon of unreasonable hope following each inauguration, reasonable doubt creeps in and we continue to muddle through with the majority simply getting what they can get from the “leavings”. And, all too soon, we begin looking toward the next election with renewed unreasonable hope for unlikely salvation.
It’s not unlike that in our every day work-a-day world.
CASE IN POINT: It’s a sobering admission, but I have to say I wasn’t the “preferred” candidate for the job from which I recently retired. The preferred candidate was actually a “crackerjack” global visionary and mathematical modeling expert from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. Fortunately for me, the University of Kentucky couldn’t afford the global visionary [for whom they held unreasonable hope], so they settled for me [with reasonable doubt]. The next 27+ years were spent removing the doubt.
During those years, while striving to build a world-class Center of Excellence in cancer research, this scenario was repeated many times over, but with more mixed results. Hope and an expectancy of great things to come accompanied each job search. Some outstanding candidates we couldn’t afford. But it was more common that many we could afford – and did hire – didn’t measure up to anticipated expectations. There were numerous reflections of a fellow Zig Ziglar describes:
“He stopped looking for work the moment he got the job!”
But you can’t just pack it all in as “hopeless” and hope is not always unreasonable! Some of the unlikeliest hires turned out to be top-drawer stars. Like the young woman from Flatwoods, KY who got married right out of high school and deferred entering the workforce for a dozen years to raise a family. Or the young nutritionist from Berea, KY who was called upon to run a research project that had stumped a Harvard graduate. And even unlikelier champions populate some of the highest offices and own some of the most prestigious awards.
As long as there are Dreams to dream, there will be “Unreasonable Hope”. And as long as we seek to be treated as “Special” without having to do an iota more or different than anyone else, there will be “Reasonable Doubt”. But as long as there are hungry, passionate, dedicated, “failure-is-not-an-option” pilgrims striving to seize the very best opportunities to prove themselves – both to themselves and to others, real HOPE will remain alive and “Reasonable Doubt” can be vindicated.
“Our job, over time, is to make Hope ‘Reasonable’ and to remove any ‘whispering’ of Doubt.” Quartermaster
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