Maybe I want to be in debt, eat crappy food, and watch endless hours of mind-numbing television?
Has it ever crossed your mind that the reasons I do this are because I want to? And maybe, just maybe, don’t want to be fixed?
Maybe it’s not about addiction? Maybe it’s not some sort of freudian cover-up to deal with the pain of childhood lost? And maybe it’s not because I’m avoiding handling my responsibilities.
Thank you Dr. Phil. Thank you Suze Orman. Thank you Dave Ramsey.
Yeah– I’ve heard about the book. Yeah– I’ve heard about your website.
But no thank you.
A fix it culture
Rooted in our DNA as Americans is an innate desire and need to fix things. We find our identity by making broken things better. It is a source of great pride. People who fix things are heroes. People who need fixing are zeroes.
We hunt out things that aren’t right and apply a solid dose of American stick-to-it-tiveness to the situation so that it falls in line with a level of social acceptability.
We love Dr. Phil.
And Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, Judge Joe Brown, Oprah Winfrey, and we used to love Phil Donohue.
We feed off of Biggest Loser. Before that we giggled at Richard Simmons, while thinking he was a hero at the same time.
A show like This Old House or Flip this House are as addicting as crack cocaine.
We text in our favorite underdog to American Idol or Dancing with the Stars.
Then a few years later we cry along with fallen heroes on Celebrity Rehab.
Fix me, baby. Fix me.
Why?
Because we have an innate desire to fix people.
And yet we never ask the question… “Would you like to be fixed?” Or “Can we humiliate you on national television so people can be entertained?”
At the end of the day, deep in our DNA, we don’t care if someone wants the help nor do we take the time to understand how they could best use our help.
We’re too busy fixing symptoms and not causes.
