"(Michael) Jordan acknowledged that his self-esteem has always been "tied directly
to the game." Hence the drive, the rage, the relentless pursuit of
victory that led to astounding feats of skill and six championship rings
in his dresser drawer. But Jordan also talked to Thompson about what
the process of that pursuit does to a person. "You ask for these special
powers to achieve these heights, and now you got it and you want to
give it back, but you can't. ... I drove myself so much that I'm still
living with some of those drives. ... I don't know how to get rid of
it...."
...But when we look for role models, why do we gloss over all the demons,
flaws, and costs, and build these singular high achievers into
all-around "10s" in our images and minds? I'm not sure, but I suspect
it's because we want to believe the fairy tale. We want to believe that
Prince Charming actually is a great guy, through and through. We
want the simple, happy ending. And, perhaps we also want to believe that
we, too, can focus on ourselves and achieve whatever we want without
someone else bearing the cost that achievement requires."
- "The Hard Lessons of Oscar Pistorius", TheAtlantic.com