Mediocrity
- Thread starter benny
- Start date
So is or is not the grass greener on the other side of the fence!?
Guess it depends on who you ask. Many self actualized people are not happy. While many people who suffer in mediocrity seem quite content. There's the rub.
Being the hardcore fan of Bob Dylan that I am, I have to quote him on this subject:
Some speak of the future
My love she speaks softly
She knows there’s no success like failure
And that failure’s no success at all
Success is subjective, there's no "end result". I don't strive to be "successful", because I'm not all that interested in pleasing other people, and their view of what success is and what it is not. To me it's only about what I want to do, and mediocrity to me would therefore be not doing something I liked to do, for a living.
Some speak of the future
My love she speaks softly
She knows there’s no success like failure
And that failure’s no success at all
Success is subjective, there's no "end result". I don't strive to be "successful", because I'm not all that interested in pleasing other people, and their view of what success is and what it is not. To me it's only about what I want to do, and mediocrity to me would therefore be not doing something I liked to do, for a living.
I think it is not pushing yourself when you know you've got more left inside you.
It's settling for reasons of personal strength and determination. Someone might, say, accept a job that isn't their dream job because they've got a child on the way. I would consider that sensible and realistic, not settling for mediocrity.
Mediocrity is when you have more to give and have no real reason not to give it and not to rock the boat some more except whatever is stopping you. It is entirely subjective.
It's settling for reasons of personal strength and determination. Someone might, say, accept a job that isn't their dream job because they've got a child on the way. I would consider that sensible and realistic, not settling for mediocrity.
Mediocrity is when you have more to give and have no real reason not to give it and not to rock the boat some more except whatever is stopping you. It is entirely subjective.
I think this is insightful because there is a trend that "not giving a fuck" somehow makes you superior to people who care about things. Sure its a great defense mechanism but I think overall its a bad trend and I think it leads to mediocrity.
To me, mediocrity means accepting everyone's definition of who you should be and settling there, instead of daring to be fully your authentic self. Anyone who lives an authentic life, is no where near mediocrity. There is such a wide range of ability, with someone always better or worse, it's almost as if society teaches if we are not the best then forget about following your passions. If you have a drive to be the best, then out-work the rest. It is more important to be happy and fulfilled. Society likes us to think we are immortal, and will have plenty of time later to fulfill our dreams, after we do what it wants first. Society wants to stay the same, but what it needs is progress.
Look, I see it like this. If you are striving to live an authentic life that is true to your own process of self discovery and self development, then this almost by defnition is not even relateable to the word or connotation of "mediocrity"
I know of really very, very, very few people that i would consider "mediocre". in fact, I can't actually think of any person that fits this. it takes all types, and everyone has something to contribute.
maybe i find no value in it, but someone will. and that stands on it's own.
when i think mediocre, i think it applies to individual actions, or efforts directed towards a specific end. but, not towards the whole of a person. man. actually, i can't think of anything probably less true or accurate about ANYBODY I can think of.
I honestly wouldn't concern yourself much with this question Benny, if you have indeed been doing so. the reality is everyone will produce a mediocre outcome in some area of their lives. but it neither defines them, nor even describes them at all.
it's not a word i even apply towards people. and beleive me... there is almost nothing i haven't applied towards a person if an when I saw it fit to do so...lol
ENT8
"happy".... not in the strict sense i would guess...very possibly not. but more alive. more present. and it's from that presence that they draw a deeper satisfaction. individual emotions are fleeting and somewhat irrelevent, to the paradigm in which they see the world on a moment to moment basis.
I would argue that this in itself is a source of profound happiness. but, that's really up for grabs.
ENT8
Agree, I guess what i meant was that what makes someone feel fulfilled varies from person to person. What's considered mediocre to one, is the height of accomplishment for someone else. So, when I said, someone who is seemingly self actualized may not be happy, I meant that someone who accomplished all that they wanted to achieve may still not feel fulfilled, but by everyone else's standard, they've strived to be the best, and can't be described as mediocre of course, while someone who others may see as mediocre may be content or surprisingly fulfilled.
ahh ok i gotcha. ya, that sounds about right i believe.
i just have a very different conceptual connection to "self actualization" in that i don't necessarily relate it to "accomplishment" in any way. it often goes hand in hand...but that can be so incredibly broad, i just don't think of it. besides, it's not what it means... it's a state of being and view, not a list of achievements.
ENT8
yeah, I think it goes back to the perception of self actualization. What does it mean to be self actualized? Maybe that's the true or real question.
