I once worked at a bookstore, and during that time, the stores were making a few changes.
They didn’t want to call the Self-Help section “self-help.” They had tried Self-Improvement, but that still didn’t sound great to the bookstore owners. Why?
“We don’t want people to think they need help.”
Who doesn’t need a little help sometimes?
Anyway, for fear of offending customers, the section was renamed Live Your Best Life.
Aaaand…
Nobody could find it! π
“Excuse me, where is the self-help section?” is a question I heard every. single. day.
Nobody seemed offended or worried that they wanted the “self-help” section. People wanted help, and they weren’t ashamed of it.
Eventually, I guess the bookstore lost money, because most people didn’t ask for the section, they just gave up on finding the section themselves and went to Amazon instead.
New signs for the Live Your Best Life section were ordered.
The signs read:
Self-Help
jarilissima
Oh my word, that is hilarious! But totally believable.
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Totally true! π I can’t imagine how much money they spent before just going back to the Self-Help signs… π
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Hey, just a quick note to say thanks for writing these little scrapbook style entries. In a world where everything is digitally perfected and ridiculously manicured, I love reading your random memories and daily routine tidbits. π§ββοΈ
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Same here, and thanks for condensing my thoughts exactly π
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Your comment makes me smile, thank you! π β€οΈ
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Is there really a need to change the name though? Because sometimes the person that can help us the best would be ourselves?
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Exactly π
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Nicely done. This when “well-meaning” goes way overboard!
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Haha yes π It was kinda pointless to look for offense where there wasn’t any. Thanks for dropping by! I read your blog all the time, it’s very interesting π
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Thank you for the kind words. And I agree with your first comment, looking for offense when there is none is ridiculous!
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What a wonderful story. We can all use help. We must grow mentally everyday. My car runs fine today but it won’t if I don’t perform maintenance on it. Thank you for sharing. Your story put a smile on my face.
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Well, you live and learn and self-help is awesome..
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Sometimes the old ways of doing things are the best.
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Very interesting read. Words can mean different things to different people. But the content behind the words, and in the books always remains the same. Well wishes on your self-improvment-help journey!
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