Embracing Average

While growing up, I had an ultra-ambitious message ingrained in me.

“Be the best.”

“Avoid being mediocre at all costs.”

“You can be anything you want to be.”

“Average is horrible.”

And it’s not just me that got the message. It’s our whole world. And I’ve been wrestling with the concept of ambition, competitiveness as values versus embracing average and mediocre. For the past two decades the average grade point average in the US has eclipsed a whole letter grade. We’re all above average.

The world avoids mediocrity like the plague.

Yet what happens when we embrace average?

For me – and I invite you this week to play with the concept as well – I find my compassion for fellow humanity increases and I feel more apart of the team of humanity.

I also feel like I need to work harder, and persist more, since, hey, I’m just average and I’ve got to work my butt off to reach these goals. Sort of like a industrious Socrates, going around saying the Oracle pronounced him the smartest person alive since he recognized he really knew nothing.

It’s a beautiful feeling, really, and ironically, embracing average is a pathway to being remarkable.