Wednesday, December 4, 2013

A Culture of Mediocrity




What has become of our society?

I mean, come on.  At the age of 19 I was working 3 jobs and going to school full-time.  I was supporting myself.  If I failed a college class it was MY fault.  NOT the professor’s.  If I lost my job, it was MY fault…not my employer’s.  I didn’t have a cell phone or a laptop.  I had a wall phone, a pad of paper with a pencil and a sense of responsibility.

So what do I see in people, 26 years later?  I see “helicopter parents” rescuing their children from experiencing anything “bad”.  I see students who couldn’t be bothered with doing homework assignments or putting their best effort into projects, because they need their “down time”.  I hear the whining of students who think they know everything and that they “aren’t learning anything new” as high school students.  They know it all and they think life will be so much easier once they get out of high school: when they can do what THEY want to do. 

And I laugh.  I laugh at the ignorance and the naiveté.  I laugh at the wisdom I’ve gained over the years and how this younger generation thinks they have it all figured out. 

NEWSFLASH: Guess what sweetie, I thought that too.

Then reality showed up one day and smacked me upside the head, in the form of bills that had to be paid; a job that didn’t pay quite enough; a rejection letter, no make that SEVERAL rejection letters from art competitions; being sick and not being able to “call in” or I’d lose my job; getting dumped by the guy I thought was “the one”; flunking a class that cost me over $4000 to retake. 

Yeah, life was “so much easier”.  I was young, dumb and wrong.

You don’t get anywhere in life without hard work.  Yes, you will have to “suck it up and deal with it”.  Sorry sweetheart, but that’s reality.  Like it or not.  The current entitlement bubble is going to burst and when it does, many young people will be in for a very rude awakening. 

I will feel “really bad” when you have less time for social networking.  I will feel “sorry” for you when you won’t be able to get that latest electronic gadget.  GASP!  I will be in shock when you will actually have to work 40+ hours a week.   I will be “totally surprised” when you are told: “no, you’re not special”.

Let me repeat that last part….YOU’RE NOT SPECIAL!

The younger generation has chosen to be lazy and accept mediocrity as the norm.  You see, each and every morning we make a choice to get up and be the best version of ourselves, to work to our fullest potential or to slide into the comfort zone of mediocrity.  For many, the choice they make is to do the least amount possible to just get by.  It’s a life of mediocrity.  It’s an acceptance of being “less than”.

I was created to be so much more.  I refuse to ever settle for being mediocre.  I didn’t settle for that at 19 and I don’t settle for that now.  Through a healthy dose of trying to be better than I have been, I push myself and strive for excellence in all that I do. 

It’s called DETERMINATION, PERSEVERANCE and MOTIVATION.  It’s available for everyone. 

…Especially those suffering from mediocrity.

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