My Unwelcome Companion

Ah mediocrity, my old nemesis. I would like to say I have missed you but you haven’t really been away, have you? I don’t always recognize you at the time but retrospectively I can see your work and influence. You tend to hang around in the background but your leverage over my choices and what I am willing to accept is always front and centre — if I make the effort to notice. That is the key, isn’t it? Taking the time to notice.

Mediocrity, the bad choices you have helped me make are many and the cost of your companionship is beyond measure. How many relationships will I allow to fester in your grip until there is nothing left to salvage? How much time and opportunities will I lose during our unwelcome embrace? You are a deceptive and treacherous siren.

Mediocrity, no matter how much I fight to eradicate you, you continue to try and creep into my life. Mastery will be a struggle only as long as I accept you. You, mediocrity, continue to battle me but I am winning the war. As I become more mindful of your ways and guises, there are fewer shadows for you to hide in. As I continue to reap in the rewards from my commitment to mastery, your lies and deceit become more obvious and less believable.

I am wise enough to recognize that mediocrity is not something that can be completely eradicated. Mediocrity is the Yin, mastery the Yang. Like pursuing mastery, eradicating mediocrity is a journey, not a destination. My journey is continuously evolving, and the specifics of the mediocrity in my life will be defined by my priorities and my values.

“I react very badly when mediocrity throws a tantrum of entitlement.” - Lee Siegel (b. 1957)