The American Dream?

What is the American Dream? Is it the belief that anyone, regardless of where they are born or what class they are born into, can, through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance, attain their version of success?

Or is it as Jim Rubens, the author of the 2009 book ‘OverSuccess: Healing the American Obsession With Wealth, Fame, Power, and Perfection’ says, that Americans are obsessed with wealth, fame, power, and perfection.  The American Dream.

In his book, he asks,

“Why is lifetime incidence of major depression several times more likely for working-age Americans? Why is one in four of us addicted to at least one substance or behavior? Why is America drowning in record personal and public debt? Why are 80 percent of women unhappy with their bodies? What is it about contemporary America that connects the swelling incidence of depression, behavioral addictions, eating disorders, debt, materialism, sleep deprivation, family breakdown, rudeness, fame fixation, ethical collapse, and mistrust?"

It is our obsession with wealth, fame, power, and perfection, and an unwinnable race for success.

We worship celebrities, the rich, and the powerful. We are constantly bombarded with images and stories about celebrities and the uber-successful like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, and Beyonce. 

The media makes us desperately want what most of us can't have and falsely teaches us to equate happiness with success. If only we were wealthier, more famous, powerful, or physically perfect, like celebrities. Then we would be successful, we would be happy.

We tell ourselves, “If I just work harder,” and we work harder. But success feels like a constantly moving target we don’t feel able to reach. Leaving us drowning in guilt, regret, and self-criticism.

There seem to be two choices in America: you are either a winner or a loser, and if you’re not wealthy, famous, powerful, or perfect, then you’re a loser. But that is a lie.

This constant striving for success has led us to be an unhappy society, that self-medicates, overeats, overspends, is stressed, depressed, and lost. The constant striving has worn us down.

So, what is the solution?

STOP!

RESIST!

REST!

Tricia Hersey encourages us to connect to the
“Liberating power of rest as a foundation for healing” She encourages us not to be brainwashed by the media and to stop subjecting our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, pace, all in service of achieving success. She sees REST as an act of resistance, an act of honoring and reclaiming our bodies, and an act of allowing our bodies to heal.

Sit. Rest. Breathe. Dream.

You can rest. You can just be. You are enough. You don’t have to be burned out, sleep-deprived, exhausted, or disconnected from yourself and others. You don’t have to achieve success to be happy. You can just be yourself. You can rest.

Join the RESISTANCE.