Mediocre But Arrogant

98 out of 100 people will remain mediocre.

Harsh, but true.

We'd all like to believe that we're perfect and that we can do no wrong. Get good grades, get a respectable job, marry a good man/woman, have kids, post photos on social media about your life and live happily ever after - this is what the average human being aspires to do in life. Not that there's anything wrong with it. To each his own. But have you stopped and considered that maybe we're all playing it too safe? We're all so afraid of failure in life that we choose instead to remain in our cozy little comfort zone and pretend that we're doing something greater than someone else.

We're all mediocre but we're too proud to admit it, because then we'd have to face the truth that we're scaredy-cats, afraid of being judged or afraid of failing at things. A lot of us mask this fear with arrogance. A lot of us believe so fiercely that what we speak, think and do are always the right things and that makes us superior to the rest of the world somehow. When that one person at work tells you that your ideas are not good enough because theirs is somehow better, that's them masking their own fears and insecurities with arrogance. When your friend (or frenemy as it's popularly known), keeps giving you those backhanded insults disguised as compliments, it doesn't mean that they're right. They might be going through some issue of their own or they might even be a teensy bit jealous of you. This vicious cycle of making and accepting judgements are what keeps us firmly rooted to our mediocrity. That and the constant fear of failure.

I myself am terribly afraid of failure. From the time you're old enough to form words, you're taught that failing is bad. Failure is something that happens to losers or people who refuse to follow the societal norms. But how about if you just alter your thinking a little bit? How about if you think of failure as 'practice sessions' instead of the doomed image of it that's been etched in your brain? How about the next time your colleague comes with another one of their 'you're not good enough' speeches, you don't believe them? You're not perfect. None of us are. But we're all capable of rising above mediocrity and embracing all of those little flaws that we are so afraid will have the rest of the world judging us for.

*image from Google

Failure is a part of life and everyone goes through it at some point in their lives. But failing at something does not give you the licence to go back into your little 'safe-zone' and then sit back and judge someone else for their pursuit of greatness. Even Thomas Edison failed like 10,000 times before that light bulb went off in his head! You may not be a genius like him, but why would you limit yourself into thinking that you're great before you've even achieved half the things that you want to in life? I read somewhere that one of the most powerful tools that a person has is his/her mind. I agree completely. What we think of ourselves reflects on everything that we do. If you think that "This is enough", you will always have a half-baked life. But the moment you change the way you look at failure and tell yourself that "This is a practice session and I'll get better", you start getting results for all the effort that you've put in.

So what's stopping you from aiming higher? Don't limit yourself because of your own thoughts or because you're afraid of how you'll be judged by someone else.

As Samuel Beckett said - "Ever tried. Ever Failed. No Matter. Try again, Fail Again. Fail Better".

#mediocrity #Life #Purpose