Of desperate crushes and personal effectiveness

Some time ago when I was in fact married, I developed a crush on someone who did not know I existed, and of course I could not act upon it. I was a moral sort of girl who believed in her marriage vows. I used to have delightful waking and sleeping fantasies, I strove to be near him, I hung on his every word and then one day I realised it was causing me a lot of unhappiness, this unrequited love that I couldn't act upon was eating me from the inside

out, and seriously could I blame love? this *thing* came from within. I was in fact foisting this misery on myself. From that day on it became easier to deal with. If I can make it happen then surely I can make it go away, and, within time, it diminished. It's a good job that man didn't encourage me.

Now I realise I can see an analogy in personal effectiveness. I was going to write a self deprecating piece about how my brother had always been more effective than me. He knew what his dreams were and he grabbed them enthusiastically. He married a sensible and driven woman and they raised two very personable and hard working successful children. He even has time for his own interests. He plays a musical instrument, is widely read and takes an active role in politics.  I on the other hand have never known what I wanted. I have always needed a champion, a leader... which ironically

at first, was him, my brother. I put my pocket money towards his hobbies. I enhanced his stamp collection, bought old 78 records, even a airfix model for him to make, sincerely believing that these were *my* interests. I was/am honestly ripe for the plucking for control freaks the world over.

So once again helpless in the face of a higher force but what?  misfortune?  my gender?

A victim of love

A victim of circumstance

A victim of genetics

What I realised in trying to write this is something I have probably thought before. There are plenty of people out there ready to put you down, There is no need to do it yourself. You are hurting yourself in the same way that nursing a hopeless crush was hurting yourself.

There is no need for that. Others will look at your output and judge you ineffective and I could join them, take a long lensed objective view and say yes, I am indecisive, prone to subject myself to irrational leaders (or manipulative ones) but... how is this going to help?

Possibly in the sense of "know your enemy" but If I state that I am not personally effective, if I highlight even silently to myself how I can't do things and make the wrong choices, it could potentially actually make it so.