Imagine all the ads that you have ever seen since you were a little kid. And I don’t think its tough to imagine these advertisements, because over the years, the fundamental idea behind all the ads has remained the same: buy more to have the best. And as a little, immature kid you were swept of your feet by those ads and would go running to your parents, because you too wanted to have the “best”. Whether it’s a new BMW or the latest iPhone or the best noodles, the world constantly wants us to have the best of whatever we possess. Now,that is a problem.
And you don’t have to look at this from one angle. Take a look at the mythical stories from different cultures. You have Medieval Europe and its stories of brave knights that fought dragons and saved princesses. Our very own mythology dictates instances where “immortal beings” have risked their lives for their kingdoms, for their people, for their family. They uphold the most desirable virtues of a man: kindness, honesty, humility, leadership etc. Also, if you notice, most paintings that revere famous gods in the Hindu mythology will show them to have the best of looks, 6 pack abs and muscles that make your eyes pop out. They are shown as symbols of greatness and exceptional sim. It is inherent human nature to come up with characters and ideas that, essentially, embody perfection, because at the end of the day, that is what most of us strive to be. We all want to be exceptional at what we do. Movies are an excellent and effective medium to not only portray but instil perfection. Just take a look at Salman Khan. On screen, the guy has the best body you could think of, the physics-defying stunts that one can only imagine doing and not to forget, the prettiest of women. How do he have the best of everything?
I’m going to take you on a slight detour from the “buy more, be more perfect” formula and argue for the merits of being just boring, blasé and average.
The population of the world is approximately 7 billion. Of these 7 billion individuals, only a 1000 seem to have a “major” worldwide influence at any given time. This leaves the rest of us coming to terms with the limited scope of our lives and the fact that the majority of what we do in our lives will not matter after we are dead. This makes us feel powerless and conjures the need to “do something” in life, “something different”.
We’ve all probably seen Micheal Jordan play and for those who haven’t, imagine him as a really good basketball player. His dunks, his speed, his shots leave most of us in awe. On the other hand, take me. I probably can’t even shoot a two pointer without falling flat on my face. You will laugh at me and you will praise Stephen Curry, but these are the two extremes that your attention caters to. This is because, today, you are only shown the best or the worst. The media fills you with the funniest of jokes, the most difficult physical feats, the best performances. There is no room for mediocrity.
This brings me to the point that we are all pretty much average at most things in our life. Sure, you could be an amazing debater, an outstanding athlete, a scholar, but chances are that you aren’t very good at other things. This, however, is the nature of life. To be truly exceptional at something, one needs to put in great amounts of time and energy in order to excel at it and that is physically not possible. Ladies and Gentlemen, today I tell you that on-screen Salman Khan does not exist. (hate to break it to the Salu bhai fans) The real Salman Khan does stunts that involve killing animals and running over people. Pretty mediocre, if you ask me. Even the most famous and successful businessmen have the unhealthiest personal lives. Most celebrities suffer from depression. Intuitively, somewhere, we are all average. However, it is our extremes that are highlighted, whether we are the worst at something or the best.
This present age is shaped by a degree of technological advancement and economic privilege. We are subject to so much information that we cannot possibly process all of it. That is why we process a part of it, which as you guessed, are the extremes. Because really, this is what catches our attention. And because we process only this part, we are conditioned to believe that being exceptional is normal , that we are all entitled to be extraordinary, when actually it’s not viable or likely. Being perfect is an ideal result. Mediocrity as a goal is undesirable. However, mediocrity as a result is absolutely fine.
Yet, we deem mediocrity to be a measure of failure. The worst possible thing for you is to be in the middle of the pack. We are often told to do things “outside the box”, reality tell us us that we are all in the box. People today think that if I am mediocre, then I’m not great enough and will never improve to become exceptional. Ironically, people who excel in their own fields are not striving to be exceptional, but infact striving to improve. They don’t have a problem with mediocrity because they believe it gives them immense scope for improvement, which is what takes them forward.
Mark Manson, a renowned blogger and New York Times writer calls ambition “ironic”. He argues that when you want to be smarter and more successful than everyone else, you will feel like a failure. If you wish to be popular and loved, you will feel alone.
If by next year, you do not become a prefect, it is perfectly fine. Maybe, someday you’ll become the CEO of a multi-national company. You don’t have to be the best actor in the school to make it big in Hollywood. You don’t have to score a 97% or a perfect 45 to make it big in life. Lift the constant pressure of being amazing off your back and focus on improving yourself. Try to accept mundanity because, believe it or not, you are going to be there quite more than often.
