refuge of medocrity
Mediocrity is a choice. It’s the safest choice, one with fewer perceived or immediate consequences.
Some choose mediocrity as a means of maintaining control, others out of fear. Some choose mediocrity because it’s all they’ve ever known, some because they aren’t aware they are making a choice at all.
Just like greatness is a choice, so is mediocrity.
I was part of a conversation last night about this very thing. We were talking about sports and how some kids are natural athletes, rising to the top with seemingly little effort. Yet, at some point, those same kids are faced with a growing group of athletes who work tirelessly to develop their skills, and suddenly the natural athlete no longer stands out.
This happens to all of us, athlete or not, at some point in our lives. The important thing is what we do next.
For some, the realization they are no longer “great” is accompanied by the sting of rejection or the embarrassment of failure. They can seek refuge in mediocrity or they can push hard to reclaim their greatness.
For others, this fall from favor is accompanied by the relief of blending in. There is safety in the crowd, and this can be alluring to those who have not experienced it before. My son chose this – he chose to falter just enough to fade into the crowd, fearing the pressure that comes from greatness. He chose mediocrity in a moment, and now faces the consequences of that choice, working harder than ever to regain his confidence and teammates’ trust.
So many talents choose not to shine – the pressure to produce high quality work consistently can be too much. Too many talents choose not to take risks, choosing safety instead.
Risk can result in failure. Risk can result in success. Greatness is hard to sustain. Mediocrity is safe and, therefore, appealing.
The lesson I took was this: people to whom things come easy (that gifted athlete, for example), people who find themselves successful without a lot of work, those people never learn to really want something. It is given to them, with little effort on their part, and they start to believe things will always be that easy. When they falter or fail, and they will, they aren’t always able to recover – that fire to achieve may never have been there at all.
Failure is an important part of our development as creatives. Not everything will work, but not everything will fail. You never know until you try.
The refuge of mediocrity, while appealing, is no place to languish. Choose to work, choose to risk, choose to fail and choose to fly. Choose mediocrity if you must, but own that choice and know that it was yours to make.
