Why being ordinary is anything but ordinary
“Something deep in the human heart breaks at the thought of a life of mediocrity.” C. S. Lewis.
We often lose ourselves trying to stand out. Often lose ourselves working harder and harder everyday convincing ourselves everyday that we’re not working hard enough. Students trying to get into IITs and AIIMS, corporate employees trying to get a raise, self employed individuals trying to make it big and so on.
Baring the ones who are genuinely following their passion, what are the rest of us doing all this for? Is it because we are extremely money minded and just want to be richer no matter the cost? Is it because we want to change the world? Truthfully, it’s because we fear being ordinary, we are scared of disappointing people around us and we despise being part of the crowd.
You see, there are two ways to live your life — one is to be rational, content and find positivity no matter what and the other is to never be content and always be hungry for more- more growth, more money, bigger status and more admiration from our “inferiors”. The later gets all the attention all the credit and the former gets none.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all praises for the people who set out to achieve something big and actually manage to do so through determination, sacrifice and… (admit it) also some luck. But I am a fan of people who set conventionally small goals everyday and slay the game on a regular basis or those who achieve actual peace and happiness because of their lifestyle; not despite it.
Everyone is extraordinary at something but mostly that “something” doesn’t get recognised enough. Being able to wake up on time, clean up, eat healthy, make someone else’s day slightly better are all extraordinary tasks and deserve recognition.
Now the other reason why being ordinary shouldn’t be scary. I could be my philosophical self and get into the theory of relativity that everyone is ordinary at something and skilled at something else so technically everyone is extraordinary and everyone is a mediocre ( Try to say that in one breath 😛). But to put things in a more absolute perspective, look at it this way- the world sustains and grows because we mediocre people run it. Salil Parekh wouldn’t be the CEO of Infosys if it stops existing and that’s exactly what would happen if every Infosys employee leaves his 9–5 job and sets out to achieve the “extraordinary”. We always look at it in the manner that big people hire regular people but don’t you see it? It’s the regular people who make big people big. Beyonce wouldn’t be the queen if her fans refuse to be her fans, Barack Obama wouldn’t a leader if people refuse to follow his lead and most importantly you wouldn’t be you if not for your “inferiors”.
Let’s do this- think of something you’ve achieved that you’re really proud of- winning a competition, securing a job, organising an event — anything. The reason you’re proud of it is not just because you achieved it but also because people around you couldn’t. If everyone came first in that competition alongside you, you wouldn’t be so proud of it. This is yet another instance of that fact that you’re good at what you do, you are a pro at something because there are a lot of people out there who are worse than you. Again, it’s the ordinary people who made you extraordinary (OK fine you can take some credit).
By now, along with you, even I have started thinking that what is the point of all these musings? Am I trying to justify being ordinary since that’s all I could do instead of working hard and changing that? It’s just peace and happiness I seek and so do you ( Yeah, I can read minds fellas sign me up! ). Since most of us arguably will end up living a conventionally "average" life, wouldn’t it be practical to embrace it and be happy about it? We can be content while working hard as opposed to never be content despite working hard.
I wondered what could be the conclusion of this super random thought. I concluded that there are no conclusions. Some people would like these thoughts of mine, most wouldn’t make it to the end of this article but I hope that those who do take something from it.
Leave your thoughts below; tell me what’s your take on this. Thanks for your time ^_^ .
