Friday, February 04, 2005

Mediocrity for You and Me

My biggest fear in life, besides waking up naked next to a she-goat in my parent's bedroom with my parents staring at me, is being labelled mediocre. You know, just so-so, average, Tom, Dick and Harry, not good, not bad.

Mediocre. Damn. *Cringing in fear*

I've always believed that I had potential to do well and me being in my life, I'm not the only one that realizes this. I've constantly got weight over my shoulders and a burden to bear. Weight that becomes increasingly heavier and more difficult to hoist as life progresses from one phase to the other. I live in total fear of not making it, of not living up to expectations, of not doing well and of not doing well enough to meet those expectations.

In a way, I am lucky to have expectations. Being the laziest thing on earth (yes, many a piece of driftwood has succumbed to my lazy prowess) I need that sort of jerk, to jumpstart and override all my stored laziness. Most of the time however, it doesn't work, subsequently leading to more rushed instances where I produce sub-par results and performances. Back to being mediocre. Until I can find out for sure if I make it in life or not, I shall continue to be in the worried state that I am currently under.

Doesn't really help then, that our society celebrates mediocrity. Everywhere you turn we are honoring the mediocre among us. Every year without fail we give unending bonusses/extra holidays/government stationary to government staff (see what I mean?), every "Hari Penyampaian Hadiah" is littered with not just the usual 1-2-3 spots, but also most improved student/best chess player/cleanest class/3rd most improved student for each class etc etc. Come to think of it, my parents only expect passes (Yes, 40 marks and above out of 100) from my younger brother nowadays. How the standards have dropped. He gets rewarded for below mediocre results! (He gets to watch A Sharks Tale if he passes everything). If I were to bring home a report card filled with passes, my parents would have hung me upside down from a fan and beat me senseless for not trying hard enough. (I am a jealous sibling at the current moment. Where is my Sharks Tale? =P).

So, if kids nowadays are brought up on a staple of mediocrity with generous sprinklings of decadence, how do we expect to progress? What do we do with a nation full of people who are only average, who only intend to do OK, who worst of all are so easily contented with what they have. What do we do with those who think that rewards are around the corner for everyone regardless of how hard you work, or don't work. Don't give me bullcrap about finding happiness and being contented with life and all that. I am talking about desire. About the will to do better than the average Joe. I'm talking about the willingness to embark on a journey of constant self improvement.

This is truly worrying. I might not have to work so hard to live a comfortable life. But then again, I've never been known to be contented with mine. OK, resolved then. I'm going to throw myself in the deep end. Hopefully, I don't drown. If I do, I hope the fish dont start nibbling at my feet. And if I make it, I'll be reminded of those who have helped me stay afloat. After which I will marry the most beautiful one, and make others my cronies. Till then, its back to my mediocre existence, for now.

3 comments:

Derik Chu said...

"marry the most beautiful one and make the rest my cronies"?

hehehheee...

trust you to write something like that dear.

Reta said...

i got the hanger for doing poorly in test and i remembered wanting so much to watch one of Elvis Presley's movie on TV while muther beating the shit outta me! LOL

well, i think the system is full of shit whereby intelligence is rated by grades.. haih..

-[Uh-miR]- said...

Xiang: Trust me, I will be forced to make a difference.. Such is life..

JillianC: Thats sooo like me right? haha Finally a comment from you dear hehe..

Cyber-red: No one agrees with how our system works, but not many people come up with alternatives.. and we still need a gauge to keep mediocrity from being rewarded =P