Self-help books are now so popular they have earned (in addition to millions for the authors) an entire special section at Barnes & Noble. Starting with “How to Win Friends and Influence People” way back in 1936, there is now a book to help you solve any and all of life’s problems ... large or small.
One best seller, “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne, claims if you concentrate and think really hard, you can attract wealth, health or whatever else you desire. This so-called “incredible revelation” reminded me of Professor Howard Hill of “The Music Man,” who sold band instruments with his “think and you can play” theory.
Dr. Wayne Dyer’s latest, “The Power of Intention,” sees intention as a creative field of energy we can learn to access to co-create our lives. In “Do One Thing Different,” Bill O’Hanlon presents sensible solutions to life’s persistent problems, while David Allen’s “Ready for Anything” presents pointers for living a more productive life. Last, but not least, there is the not-so-delicately titled, but straight to the point, “Cut the Crap and Resolve Your Problems.”
We seem to be a nation of people who are eternally searching for ways to be better.
Better mothers, fathers, cooks, gardeners, lovers, bosses, employees, speakers, listeners, shoppers, home decorators, husbands, wives, grandparents or just improved versions of ourselves, (Oprah’s motto of “Be the best you can be”).
Nothing wrong with any of these aspirations, I suppose, but I wonder just how far all this reading about self-improvement really gets us. While cleaning out the basement recently, (which is certainly not the best IT could be), I came across some really old magazines, and guess what the leading articles were all about?
Working Woman’s June 1985 issue featured, “How to Beat Stress and Look Your Best,” “Is Your Job Meeting Your Needs?” and a “Knock-Em Dead Dessert Recipe.” American Health magazine of November 1986, “The Truth About Wrinkles,” “Do Optimists Live Longer?” and the premier issue of a magazine called Spring, which came out in April 1982, but must have needed some help itself because it failed, “Power Thinking, New Techniques to Get Your Agenda Rolling.” And even though it is off the subject of self-help, final proof that things haven’t really changed, an issue of Connecticut magazine from October 1987 had an article titled, “Why Our Bridges Are Falling Down.”
My mother was an avid reader, and I was always read to as a child, but the books that were in our home were, for the most part, the classics, Dickens, Conan Doyle, Jane Austen, James Barrie, and occasionally a new best seller, usually about a current political or social issue. It was pretty much taken for granted that part of growing up was learning how to control your temper, look your best, do your best, be thoughtful and appreciative of others, and put something aside for a rainy day.
Parents who put down strong, clear guidelines and served as good examples themselves were all the help that was needed. What has occurred in the years since that we now must turn to myriad unknown experts to solve our problems and answer our most personal, private questions? Maybe, at least until it’s time when I feel compelled to make a New Year’s resolution, I’ll just sit here and vegetate, feeling smug and content in my present imperfect state. And if I do decide to read a book, it will be a biography or a mystery.
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