"Going Big"
"Go Big or Go Home" Its a phrase thats seems to have inundated my daily life. It conjures images of snowboarders soaring through the air while attempting ridiculous acrobatic moves and people doing double-backflips on bmx bicycles. Strangely, though, it seems to have expanded in meaning of late, and now can be used for anything you want. I googled it and found that in addition to so-called extreme sports athletes, the motto also could be applied to investing, playing poker, small businesses, protests, and custom rims, among other things. I've even heard people say, "My life motto is to go big or go home." Mountain Dew would have us belive that by drinking their soda, we must be "Going Big". Recently my ward had a 5K run-walk with T-shirts that said "Go Big or Go Home."
I'm not sure what it is about the phrase "Go Big or Go Home" that people enjoy so much. I can see its application in the sense of a philosophy to risk everything in order to be the VERY best, rather than just good, or sufficient. But I don't see why this appeals to people so much. I mean, I don't know if any of you have seen "Deal or No Deal" on NBC (its kind of hard to miss these days), but the people who hold out hoping they have the million dollar suitcase almost always end up with chump change, when they could have gotten a better deal by selling. In life I think the same generally applies. Its one thing to want to do well, quite another to risk everything to be the best regardless of the odds.
"Going Big?"
But what really gets under my skin is the regular old people like you and me who claim to always "Go Big", when really the only thing they "Go Big" on is their Biggie-sized combo at Wendys. In fact, I'm suprised that Wendy's hasn't adopted this as their latest marketing slogan. Its used so much by people who don't personify its meaning that now its lost its meaning. When I saw it on our 5K shirts I asked, "Will there be some kind of bungie jumping that I have do in the middle?". "No, its just the slogan we picked." I mean, c'mon, its a 5K. Thats like 3.1 miles. I walked it in 42 minutes. Did I "Go Big"? Not that I was aware of, but then again, no one tried to make me "Go Home" either.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that unless your life is frequently in danger or at least your limbs, try to refrain from proclaiming that you "Go Big". And if you can't refrain, then please..."Go Home."
6 comments:
I agree. The phrase "by small and simple things" comes to mind. The idea that life should be a series of bungee-jump type experiences contradicts what I see in the people who I want to become like.
Although I must say that some of those small things can feel like you're "going big." Asking someone out, as simple as it is, can feel like you're bungee jumping. Heck, even attempting to smile at someone you're interested in can feel that way. I guess it could just depends on perspective. I want to live in a "big" way, but that probably doesn't necessarily mirror the definition you're talking about.
Haha, nice contrast between the two phrases. And I do agree that some parts of "normal" life do require "Going Big" so to speak. Those of us for whom normal things can become Big probably aren't the ones proclaiming to be "going big" anyway.
you will be happy to know that for a while, Carl's Jr pushed their larger sized combos by asking, "do you want to go big?"
So if you went for the larger combo in the drive-thru, you could, conceivably, Go Big and Go Home. Interesting.
I so love your blog and commentors.
As a woman, it confuses me when my email spam offers me a new way to "go bigger" with Cialis.
hee hee....a whole new meaning comes to light and makes me wickedly happy.
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