Thursday, November 6, 2008

Renouncing mediocrity: answering the question-“What do we do now?”

I hardly need to define mediocrity - it surrounds us on all sides - but I think that a description of it being a quality of ordinariness, of being only average or content with less than our best, sums it up well.

While it is nothing new, our society increasingly celebrates the banal, promoting false celebrity in place of true greatness, valuing “fitting in” over standing out.

Despite all the rationalizations of our society, the mediocre person can’t get away from an inner awareness of their failings. That gnawing feeling of disquiet is the part inside them that wants to be great that is being held back. This is our birthright and is what our society works hard at extinguishing, but it never quite kills.

The rest of the mind that values not rocking the boat, not ever growing, being lazy, blaming others for our failings or playing games fights with the innate urge for greatness. However, instead of raising themselves to a higher plane, the mediocre people lash out by trying to bring others down to their own low level.

True transformation of the psyche is something few have the courage to attempt.

In our pursuit we are going to be victimized endlessly. But if it is ever the occasion of our quitting the race we had better not offer it as an excuse, for we are mandated to keep on lest we lose our purpose or courage.

We may not change society’s values, but we can change our own. Firstly, if there is mediocrity around you, challenge it and remove it from your life. Demand that others who work for you fulfill their obligations. Don’t accept their excuses and failings. Lift the level of the game. Pursue the highest quality in your own life. Don’t surround yourself with the banal, or waste your time on mediocre pursuits. Take on the best that your culture offers you. To be successful ourselves, we need to acknowledge the best that there is when we see it, and help nurture it. If there is someone around you who stands out, encourage him or her to develop further. Do the best you can, even if this is unpopular or unfashionable.

If there is something in your own life that you believe is less than ideal, think about the changes you can make to become your best. Renounce everything that is mediocre and move towards what is excellent.

Renouncing mediocrity will not be easy, anywhere at any time.

All of us face disappointment, frustration, betrayal, unforeseen potholes and pitfalls and pit bulls. Who wouldn't become discouraged amidst all these?

How long are we going to pursue excellence? "Pursue,” suggests diligence, ardor, perspicacity. How long are we going to maintain all this?

It will not be a sprint that ends in 9.97 seconds; it's a long distance race. A sprint ends so quickly that no runner has time to get discouraged. But discouragement can take any long distance runner out of the race.

This life, the pursuit of excellence, is a particular kind of long distance race; it's a relay race. Each generation passes on the baton to the next. The one thing we mustn't do is fumbling the baton. In the 1992 Olympic games two women were running side-by-side in a relay event when suddenly one jabbed the other with a sharp elbow. The elbowed woman, in pain now, gasped and slowed up slightly; whereupon the nasty runner surged ahead; whereupon the victimized woman lost her temper and threw her baton at the woman who had fouled her. As soon as she threw her baton she threw the race away; she disqualified herself and her team. Years and years of preparation and training and sacrifice it was thrown away in an instant. And it all happened because she allowed victimization to deflect her from her pursuit.

The relay race of this life is an unusual relay race in that those throughout the centuries who have already run their leg of the race go to the finish line in order to cheer on those who are still running. These people, having run valiantly, make up "the great cloud of witnesses." You and I and all who join are added to that great cloud. We shall be added as surely as we run with perseverance.
For then it will be said of us
we…fought the good fight; …finished the race, and…kept the faith. "

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