AnalyzeAnalyzeWhile on her way to a lunch date, Alice’s witnesses a women killed in a crosswalk after being struck by a car. The women resembles Alice from her hair style to the mode of heels she is wearing, and for all intent and purpose, it could have been Alice lying lifeless in the intersection. Everything about Alice’s life exclaims success, she is a senior partnership at a prestigious law firm, independently wealthy and propertied. Alice works hard in Boston to get to the top of her career. The horror of that day is not soon lived down, and Alice is deeply affected, by that unforgettable day.
Putting her achievements into perspective, Alice examines her life, using the finality of the accident to determine whether or not she is happy with her life. She is engaged to a hard working man in the same profession; her work is lucrative; she’s doing everything that anyone can ever expect of her and more: until the day of the accident, she thought that she was happy.
It’s not easy to being at the top of her profession. Alice is tired of the loneliness that her position entails. Everyone expects her to make life sacrifices that are irrational and ineffective. She is losing too many things in the process, like her loving and nurturing-self, not to mention that her social life is hopeless. There are very, very few other women in the law firm, and no other female senior partners. Alice is further distressed to see bright young women, who she can identify with, allow themselves to be trapped in the same professional snare that entangles her. Life at the top of the heap is troublesome, from where she is, she sees an ominous future for her. Deciding that happiness is more important than the road
[quote=Erika]I’ve been here a couple of times, but never had anything like these things happen to me. It is not like I’ve ever been here at that level in my life, never. It’s that I’m too close to this one of those situations that is always there. The point of this article is to point out that the entire issue is about the human personality…and not just the part of it that is based on physical and mental attributes. That the personality has to become the problem in order for human society to survive is not true, especially in an economy such as the so-called ‘big economy’. I’ve seen it recently that people at the top were less concerned with winning than people at the bottom.
I’ve met such people at the top, at the universities, at my own firm, I was even at the university for a few seasons. At the time, in my experience, they felt threatened, isolated, afraid. I remember thinking, “If I never learn to love myself, I can’t ever make this place work.” The key to my decision not to do something like that was to not be scared of the thought of an ugly life I’d leave behind. I would never dare leave what I loved in this country, let alone take home the prize I’d won. I still wish I was not here and I would have accepted that option. I just feel like I’m trapped in a situation akin to someone I can’t escape from.
[/quote] I don’t do this because I have never had the courage to find out if I was right or wrong. Yet to think there could be a way to stop this problem of social alienation from people in my career-based life… I want us to see this and see that we can help it stop. I’d also like to think I’m right that I’m wrong about the most important part about life: the self. People can see things in the other person that do matter. I’ve had enough of this feeling of trying to be perfect for so long that no matter how difficult things have been, I could always put on a good show and come back a few years later.
My first meeting with an older man was about a year and a half ago and I told him that I think I’ve matured a lot since then. It’s become clear to me that at the time he thought he was a little out of shape, and would never get around to looking for change for himself. Since then, he’s changed a lot over a number of years and I haven’t been able to explain how he has changed in that timeframe. It may be that he hasn’t changed too much, but given the fact that people know him, perhaps it’s fair to say that he’s more