The one for the in-betweens

" Nothing is as approved as mediocrity, the majority has established it and it fixes it fangs on whatever gets beyond it either way." Ask someone who wants to go last, and pat comes the reply, "No one". Then again, ask someone who wants to go first, and the answer again comes, "No one". Where, you might ponder, lies the comfortable range? The risk with going first is that there is a vast open ocean out there, and you don't know where to strike. The thought process is that one REALLY has to be courageous to go first. The risk with going last is that one has a high standard level set by all his/ her predecessors. So, we are content with going somewhere in the middle, come up with a not-too-good-not-too-bad performance, and get things done with. We do not want to stand out. It is really awkward being away from the veil of annonymity, we say. If it were just that, things would be just fine.But, its not.The thing is, we do not want others to jump out of this mediocracy. Sometimes it is so plainly visible on people's faces, its a reality check!

I want to look at the other view of mediocracy. Content at being in our very own comfort zone, we are scared to test the water. Whats the worst thing that can come out of it? Its too cold, or too deep. So, we either swim or sink. We just don't want to analyze. All that we say is, " Yeah! I could also do it, if I had only given it a shot". So, why don't we give it that best shot? Why, instead does the crab mentality of pooh-poohing come?

Its a great feeling to realize that I am not out there to prove a point to the whole world; I don't have the urge to feel like a mediocre. I am content being an "underperformer" in the eyes of others, while I get along with my business.

But then, mediocrism is not without its virtues. They are the ones who make performers seem great, yet provide solace to the underperformers, who can reach mediocracy someday. They help maintain a sense of normalcy in this world of great disparity, they are the billion faces admiring you when you come on TV to receive that award. They are the ones who give that appreciative glance to acknowledge supreme achievement. Truly, without mediocrity, the world would be absolutely incomplete!