Mediocrity

A few months ago I wrote an essay titled, A Year’s Worth of Me noting the one-year anniversary of writing these weekly pieces. In that offering I discussed the weight I’ve felt with regard to being told at a very early age that I was not meeting my potential. I have carried that critique of the three-year-old me for my entire life, feeling that somehow I have missed the opportunity to meet some subjective notion of potential. But there is an equally debilitating word that has haunted me for almost as long. It is the term: MEDIOCRITY. Potential and Mediocrity are closely related for it seems if one is going to achieve something of substance, then that achievement is going to go beyond mediocrity to set a standard well above the average.

On the other hand, I’ve often wondered if it is even possible, regardless of what I accomplish in life, to slough off the cloud of self-doubt that has always hovered over my psyche, keeping me from feeling that I have achieved anything of value within the goals life has dangled in front of me. I know this sounds a bit like self-pity (wah-wah), but feelings are difficult to erase despite a desire to embrace a more pragmatic perspective of myself.

What I do know is that regardless of outcome, I attempt to do the best I can at whatever I’m engaged in at the moment though I rarely, if ever, reach beyond a sense of being mired in mediocrity. On occasion it feels like I might achieve a grade of B+ which, in the great scheme of things, is pretty good. Others may disagree, suggesting I’m too hard on myself. That may be the case as well, but from inside the hard-shell casing of my subjective self-perception, it’s very difficult to unearth a greater degree of objectivity.

At least to me, climbing out of Mediocrity is not measured by financial success. Just because someone might be good (or lucky) at acquiring wealth does not mean they aren’t stuck waist deep in a mediocre life. When I look at the lives of people like Elon Musk (one of my favorite targets) or Larry Elison, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Donald Trump, and thousands of other multi-billionaires, I see a class of people who are living a mediocre life (at best). Building of a better world entails moving beyond mediocrity and that takes compassion, intelligence, kindness, and empathy, which these people do not have.

Unfortunately only a few exceptions exist. Mackenzie Scott, Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet, to name a few, are people who see and understand the world from a very different point of view and are living life to the fullest by making a positive impact. There are also a great number of people who have found a fulfilled life near the apex of well-being and inner peace and yet have next to no money. These folks are much richer in the things that matter than the egocentric uber-wealthy mentioned above.

BUT, with all of that said, I admit that I pass judgement daily on a portion of humanity based on their actions and behavior as decidedly mediocre. As noted above I strive for a higher level of quality in almost everything I try to do, so I find it difficult to understand why everyone doesn’t want to do their best as well. Even if a person fails, the desire, the dream of accomplishment, is worth the effort. With that said, it’s important to mention there are many, many people who are doing a wonderful job and who are throwing themselves into their work, producing excellent results.

There are a number of industries where a lackluster attitude is most evident. The restaurant business for instance is rife with C+ mediocre quality meals. When I eat out and the food is basically “Meh” at best, it makes no sense to me. As someone who likes to cook, I know that it’s relatively easy to make good food though I admit when one gets into the realm of high-end preparation, the expertise needed is well above my skill level. But to prepare a basic, good tasting meal is not that difficult. As an example, just down the road from our home there is a breakfast and lunch diner, open from 7am to 3pm, seven days a week. The food is consistently extremely well prepared. The owner, the staff, and the kitchen crew care about creating dishes that are not just edible, but really quite good. As the old saying goes, “This is not rocket science!” And yet this is the exception and not the rule.

Instead, perhaps I should be looking to the patrons who frequent mediocre establishments. That they are willing to put up with and pay for run-of-the-mill food and service sends a message that this level of quality is acceptable. But even with that, where is the pride of work where someone is creating a product they feel great about? Is it just a job, so who cares? If the general public doesn’t care, why should the person engaged in that job even care? What I keep coming back to is that doing a great job feels good. That by going above and beyond, the person working feels they have stepped out of the shadow of mediocrity.

I’m also reminded of the American auto industry that for decades manufactured low quality vehicles even though they had the ability and technology to produce a higher-grade car. It wasn’t until companies in Asia such as Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia began exporting longer lasting and better made autos that the big three took notice and tried to play catch up. It was the bottom line of making more money and the unwillingness of the public to demand higher quality that allowed Ford, GM, and Chrysler to continue along the path of mediocrity.

I’ve only touched on the surface of this issue. This propensity to be stuck in a mindset of mediocrity remains rampant in many parts of the world, including right here in our nation that once led the world in innovation, quality, and pride of production. Did we just become lazy? Or did we just lower our expectations of each other?

In the meantime, I will continue to do my best to reach above that B+ level though at this advanced age, it may be a silly endeavor. I sometimes wonder if I would just be happier if I lowered my own expectations of myself. But I highly doubt if that’s going to change at this point. I suspect I will continue to feel compelled to keep trying regardless. There are times you just have to go with what you know.

To end this week’s offering I’ve added a piece written about 12 years ago expressing my fairly vehement frustration with regard to this subject. As always, please feel free to comment.

A Cynic’s Soliloquy

Streets spill over with hollow-eyed
mumblers who walk as if alive.
Their transfat hearts thudding in
rib lined cavities as their lungs fill with
calcified remnants of self-serving piety.
Turgid animals wallowing through
their own nightmares where the dream
of satiated greed collides head-on with
the mumbo jumbo of manifest destiny;
where truth is found on a cereal box
and facts, like scraps of dust,
are swept under the nearest Persian carpet.

Creatures who roam this floating, spinning orb
as if tomorrow existed in a tin can
to be opened just prior to the expiration date.
Travesty abounds for they have allowed the curiosity
that could have made them great to be sucked out
through their collective noses by tabloid aliens
or by hodgepodge conspiracies manufactured
out of fabricated paranoid fantasies.

Who the hell are these heffalumping bipeds,
the ones who sweat the blood of others and then,
thinking they are so clever, piss into the wind?
Who would have guessed, for as Pogo the ‘Possum
quipped those many years ago,
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Yes, them is us. The very same foot-shooting, lemming-esk,
self-aggrandizing, gluttons for irony, who ooze from TV ads
for quality American cars.  The very same ones who stare
back from the mirrors of narcissism,
found in the glassed skyscrapers we have erected
as monuments to ourselves.

We are God’s April Fool’s joke on himself;
the ones running full tilt,
with our white canes tucked neatly under our arms,
towards the end of days.