Mediocrity
All my life I’ve wanted to be really good at something, and apart from being widely-recognized as the world’s foremost expert in the 327-word essay, about the best I’ve ever managed is to make it to finals a couple years ago in the Great American Think-Off, thus earning the unofficial title of “America’s Tied-For-Third Greatest Thinker.”
And so it’s occurred to me that really, the only thing I unequivocally excel at is being mediocre; in other words, when it comes to being average, I’m excellent.
An adequate writer, teacher, and philosopher, I’m also nothing to write home about in the parent or spouse department; I’m a decent-but-not-great citizen, activist, and neighbor; I could be far more (or less) adept as a yogi, cyclist, or friend; I’ll never win a Nobel Prize or Olympic medal, but by the same token, it’s unlikely I’ll ever end up on Death Row or Guantanamo Bay prison.
I’ll just muddle through the rest of my life not making a particularly big splash in either the very big pond or my own little one; people will recall me with some fondness, but their memories of me will fade as no national day of celebration will mark my birth or international outpouring of grief commemorate my demise.
Time was when this would really have bothered me, but now I say, to quote the poet, “Meh.”
My new strategy will be to cultivate a general, overall sense of “good enough is good enough.” Instead of striving to be number one, I’ll take it as adequate to simply be a number. Rather than hoping to one day be rich and famous, I’ll be completely satisfied to merely have enough money to pay the mortgage and enough notoriety that the barista at my local coffeeshop recognizes me with a smile, even if she doesn’t necessarily remember my usual drink.
I’ve decided that it’s not so bad being not so bad; after all, I could be way worse.
And so it’s occurred to me that really, the only thing I unequivocally excel at is being mediocre; in other words, when it comes to being average, I’m excellent.
An adequate writer, teacher, and philosopher, I’m also nothing to write home about in the parent or spouse department; I’m a decent-but-not-great citizen, activist, and neighbor; I could be far more (or less) adept as a yogi, cyclist, or friend; I’ll never win a Nobel Prize or Olympic medal, but by the same token, it’s unlikely I’ll ever end up on Death Row or Guantanamo Bay prison.
I’ll just muddle through the rest of my life not making a particularly big splash in either the very big pond or my own little one; people will recall me with some fondness, but their memories of me will fade as no national day of celebration will mark my birth or international outpouring of grief commemorate my demise.
Time was when this would really have bothered me, but now I say, to quote the poet, “Meh.”
My new strategy will be to cultivate a general, overall sense of “good enough is good enough.” Instead of striving to be number one, I’ll take it as adequate to simply be a number. Rather than hoping to one day be rich and famous, I’ll be completely satisfied to merely have enough money to pay the mortgage and enough notoriety that the barista at my local coffeeshop recognizes me with a smile, even if she doesn’t necessarily remember my usual drink.
I’ve decided that it’s not so bad being not so bad; after all, I could be way worse.
posted by Professor Dave at 2:58 PM
1 Comments:
I have this exact train of thought, which is usually followed by: isn't acquiesing to mediocrity simply recognizing, indirectly, a choice? Attaining greatness relies, at least in part, on the combination of opportunity and character. Both of which must be developed. The absence of a serendipitous event catapulting you into the universal consciousness might be related to nothing, to an inexact proximity to catapults, or to failing to make your own luck.
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