In our time, when everyone wants to quickly get the promised 15 minutes of fame and hit the world, blogger Mark Manson has written a hymn to mediocrity. Why is it hard not to support him?
An interesting feature: we cannot do without images of superheroes. The ancient Greeks and Romans had myths about mortals capable of challenging the gods and performing feats. In medieval Europe there were tales of knights without fear or reproach, slaying dragons and rescuing princesses. Every culture has a selection of such stories.
Today we are inspired by comic book superheroes. Take Superman. This is a god in human form in a blue tights and red shorts, worn on top. He is invincible and immortal. Mentally, he is as perfect as physically. In his world, good and evil are as different as white and black, and Superman is never wrong.
I would venture to say that we need these heroes to fight the feeling of helplessness. There are 7,2 billion people on the planet, and only about 1000 of them have global influence at any given time. This means that the biographies of the remaining 7 people most likely mean nothing to history, and this is not easy to accept.
So I want to pay attention to mediocrity. Not as a goal: we should all strive for the best, but rather as the ability to come to terms with the fact that we will remain ordinary people, no matter how hard we try. Life is a compromise. Someone is rewarded with academic intelligence. Some are physically strong, some are creative. Someone is sexy. Of course, success depends on effort, but we are born with different potentials and abilities.
To really excel at something, you have to dedicate all your time and energy to it, and those are limited.
Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. But most show average results in most areas. Even if you’re talented at something—mathematics, jumping rope, or the underground arms trade—otherwise, you’re most likely average or below average.
To succeed in something, you need to devote all your time and all your energy to it, and they are limited. Therefore, only a few are exceptional in their chosen field of activity, not to mention several areas at once.
Not a single person on Earth can succeed in all areas of life, it is impossible statistically. Supermen don’t exist. Successful businessmen often do not have a personal life, world champions do not write scientific papers. Most show business stars do not have personal space and are prone to addictions. Most of us are completely ordinary people. We know it, but rarely think or talk about it.
Most will never do anything outstanding. And that’s okay! Many are afraid to accept their own mediocrity, because they believe that in this way they will never achieve anything and their life will lose its meaning.
If you strive to be the most popular, you will be haunted by loneliness.
I think this is a dangerous way of thinking. If it seems to you that only a bright and great life is worth living, you are on a slippery path. From this point of view, every passer-by you meet is nothing.
However, most people think otherwise. They worry: “If I stop believing that I’m not like everyone else, I won’t be able to achieve anything. I will not be motivated to work on myself. It’s better to think that I’m one of the few that will change the world.»
If you want to be smarter and more successful than others, you will constantly feel like a failure. And if you strive to be the most popular, you will be haunted by loneliness. If you dream of unlimited power, you will be plagued by a sense of weakness.
The statement “Everyone is brilliant in some way” flatters our vanity. It’s fast food for the mind — tasty but unhealthy, empty calories that make you feel emotionally bloated.
The road to emotional health, as well as to physical health, begins with a healthy diet. Light salad «I’m an ordinary inhabitant of the planet» and a little broccoli for a couple «My life is the same as everyone else’s.» Yes, tasteless. I want to spit it out right away.
But if you can digest it, the body will become more toned and lean. Stress, anxiety, passion for perfectionism will dissipate and you will be able to do what you love without self-criticism and inflated expectations.
You will enjoy simple things, learn to measure life on a different scale: meeting a friend, reading your favorite book, walking in the park, a good joke…
What a bore, right? After all, each of us has it. But maybe that’s a good thing. After all, this is important.