I used to want to be so many things.
I called it ambition.
At first I was apologetic for this ambition.
Then I learned to embrace it.
To be proud of it.
I wanted to be a millionaire, to speak on big stages, to be fluent in five languages, to lose ten pounds, to solve the hunger problem.
Because of ambition…
I learned how to take action despite fear and self-doubt, and that was a good thing.
I learned how to want what I wanted without apologizing, and that was a good thing.
I learned how to set goals despite the judgment of others, and that was a good thing too.
But I rarely ever felt contentment.
Everything was rush, rush, rush. Do, do, do. Measure, measure, measure.
Because underneath the ambition that I worked so hard to cultivate was fear — a fear of mediocrity.
As if mediocre were a disease.
What I realized is that mediocrity is nothing but a label. It is the attachment to an identity, in my case, the attachment to the idea that I have to be something “special,” that is the real disease.
I have released the need to live up to any sort of potential, to be special or a success.
You want to know what happens when you stop worrying about being mediocre?
You get to do whatever the fuck you want.
This. Is. Freedom.
Ironically, there is something incredibly un-mediocre about not giving a fuck about mediocrity.
There is a purity in it. There is joy, love and compassion in it.
That saturates every mundane, mediocre thing with a kind of magic.
I want to love from this place.
I want to create from this place.
I want to exist in this magic and see what happens.
I frigin love this article! I have been journaling on similar topics. today I was journaling about quickness and what it means to me…and woof, was it a lot more loaded than I thought! I resonate with that “special” disease and trying to find it outside of yourself in more.
I’ve reclaimed the word “basic” and flipped it to just knowing what you like…so now it’s time to reclaim mediocre (even if part of my body just cringed a little ?) but the “not give an f” part of myself will rejoice n be excited in even more freedom it receives!
Thank you for this article!!
This is awesome. This applies to me in every way. Thank you.
I love everything about THIS. The simplicity, yet depth, the cut to the chase, and nuggets for diving deeper.
! I have been STRIVING for so long and I’m realizing I’m pretty friggin awesome just as I am. So rather than trying to be more —fill in the blank,..I’m just being MORE me.