Do you prefer denial?
Or perhaps justification?
Or is it a temporary state?
The reality is that most of us aren't doing anything very impressive. We are small people who most will quickly forget, even if they have heard of us.
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Do you prefer denial?
Or perhaps justification?
Or is it a temporary state?
The reality is that most of us aren't doing anything very impressive. We are small people who most will quickly forget, even if they have heard of us.
I don't have children, but living vicariously through them seems like a decent solution.
What if they are shits?
Then you're less than mediocre because you fucked up the one long-term job you had.
I'm afraid that even if my kids turn out to be good (which, all jokes aside, I think is likely) they may still turn out mediocre people who enjoy television shows most nights or god forbid tiktok videos.
You've gotta be lenient in how you apply "shits" to your own blood.
Mediocrity is a statistical guarantee, if everyone is extraordinary which nobody is. It’s actually liberating, once you accept that nobody cares, you're finally free to build whatever weird stuff you want in peace.
“The renunciate never denies passion. The renunciate simply denies attachment to results. Passion is a love of doing. Doing is being, experienced. And what is often created as part of doing? Expectation. To live your life without expectation, without a need for specific results. That is freedom. That is godliness. That is how I live.
You are not attached to results?
Absolutely not! My joy is in the creating, not in the aftermath. Renunciation is not a decision to deny action. Renunciation is a decision to deny a need for a particular result. There’s a vast difference.”
Epicurus said... Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little
Epictetus also said....Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants
I like the stoic philosophy
Marcus A had the, be one quote but that's too overrused and cliché'd
Also comparison is the thief of joy
Personally I believe we are given this reality to live in this meat suit and experience all of what this has to offer, as a collective oneness we cannot express individualism
So take this opportunity to live, breathe and love (also MA) and just enjoy it
Be nice to other people
Why do you HAVE TO cope with your own mediocrity?
Why is "becoming exceptional" not a choice?
Why do you have to make excuses or be in denial about your mediocrity,
when you can try to NOT be mediocre?
Then, you won't have to cope with it.
While I'm trying to climb Mt Everest, training on these little foothills and mountains with names no one has ever heard of, I feel the weight of mediocrity. I hope to escape it by climbing the mountain, but the attempt also carries with it the possibility of defeat, which is the province of mediocrity.
fag
literally "plz cope" with better words
Mediocrity, as a concept, is arbitrary and subjective.
Ultimately, we're all naked when we're born, and we all die.
Wealth is subjective as well, but having had little and also had more, I'd rather have more.
There does seem to be some people who manage to make something grand between the dusts.
I know there are nuances and caveats here.... but from my perspective, wealth is not subjective and/or arbitrary. It's quantifiable. Sure, the measurement sticks we choose to measure wealth can be arbitrary, which is where the nuance can enter here.
Mediocrity, however, cannot be measured. One person's idea of "success" is another's nightmare. What does it mean to be "mediocre", or "successful", or "happy"??
I know a 70 year old man who spent his life as a U.S. marine and then a federal LE Agent. He amassed a greater than average amount of wealth. He exercised daily. He worked hard. Most people who know him would probably say he was not "mediocre".
He was diagnosed with cancer about a year ago. He's a different man now, because the cancer is making it impossible to live how he used to live.
Is he now "mediocre" after spending a life being non-mediocre? Did his lifetime of extra hard work change anything, in the grand scheme of the universe? Will anyone remember him, or care about him 50 years from now?
How can mediocrity be measured? What is it?
Mediocrity is simply a short-term, relative concept. People have their periods of strength, and then they become weak. We experience ups and downs, most of which are derived from forces completely external to us.
"I'm mediocre" sounds like a lie that my monkey brain tells me.
I would delete the thought. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Mediocre mostly means comparison, but it also a little mean dissatisfaction. I hold up my accomplishments, in hands that are looking older now, and think "is this all?"
I think I understand. Seeing the issue framed that way, I would take action. I would set up a system to change myself. For example something I noticed in myself earlier this year. I saw myself being an angry person who posts nasty comments online. I would quit projects the moment it got hard and I was selfish and thus poor and I think I became the type of person that no woman could love.
They say organizations are fractals. A man who has a filthy car also treats himself and his home poorly. I was that guy so I set up a system to clean a little every day and do work to serve others.
So now I do landscaping and I make a youtube video every day. Here's one I made which kind of summarizes my desire for self improvement and how video games are helping with it. (by refusing to give up on games on the small scale I'm refusing to give up on myself and my future potential on the large scale) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U0L1-7mYNU
that’s a good one
why are you expecting yourself to be some legend?
a healthy [moderate!] dose of "Main Character Energy" should be more than enough.
Because not being a legend sometimes feels like death itself.
but you were already "dead" for an eternity, before your life began...
This is good point. I suppose I can accept. But why then do the things in this brief moment beneath the sun feel so meaningful?
I found that the points in my life where I was chasing the biggest goals, was also the time that I was genuinely unhappy. Learning that being happy ment being content, may have somewhat lowered my ambition, but it was well worth the trade off to no longer hate existence. I guess i could say that my happiness/content is paramount, and being mediocre doesn't make that worse as long as I don't care. Im not sure making a place my myself in history would realy improve things much.
I want to know how you separated ambition from happiness.
It's hard to say, but I think my problem was that the ambition was making me unhappy. I may have graduated with honors, but I didnt have the absolute best grades in my class, it was never good enough, nothing was ever good enough. Right now I sit on the beach with a beer and some cashews, thinking about the 6.5 lb wheel of cheese I cooked up a week or two ago, aging in my wine fridge. While I can't say i'm in utter bliss, I don't hate myself, and that is pretty darn good given how I was 10 years ago.
It does sound pretty good.
I believe its a temporary state and these are all test to build and sculpt me into the man I ultimately become.
I’m actually not bothered by it. These days, if I can get an afternoon off and laze around on my couch to catch up on my Netflix shows, I’m contented enough. No need to excel haha
How do you think you will look back on those afternoons when you are old?
do you also judge yourself harshly for sleep?
living a humble life well is more admirable than delusions of grandeur and eventual disappointment
No. I must sleep and shit and do things like this. But for the time I have awake, and active, surely we can do something great?
people vary. some don't even have the ability to "chill out", while for others it doesn't come naturally although can be done deliberately.
I'm not saying to give up on your dreams! but having humility, perspective and self-forgiveness is important for surviving through the decades
Humility is a very difficult concept. So is "being content" (they are sometimes linked in my mind. Sometimes it saying "oh they're content" sounds like a slur. Or "it's a very humble effort." Sure, it's not like we are going to condemn it, but it isn't something we should aspire to.
well you'll be happier if your expectations from yourself are better matched to your self-perception. there are different ways to phrase similar ideas, although if you begin from an expectation that everyone must strive to lead the pack, then most of the pack will probably have some stress from not leading.
some hemisocial animals [e.g. wolves] are perfectly happy being part of a pack, and only a few will actually struggle over leadership against an existing leader.
fondly.
I’m now in the rush hour period of my life, what with work and parenting. so I will be happy to look back and remember that I did take time out to be me.
if parenting doesn’t deplete my energy so much, maybe I will think more about leaving a legacy. but parenting is like another full-time job to me
the microcosm of self reflects the macrocosm of all;
⛺🌲👁🌎🏰
there are but two mistakes on the path to enlightenment: not starting and not going all the way;
🚲🚗⛵🛩🚀
That's why God created alcohol
Works for the first couple beers, then seems like back to square one.
soviet communism destroyed many strong men thru alcohol & demoralization; modern crony capitalism is destroying capable men thru a wide variety of toxic substances, advanced mind control tactics, etc.; the outcome is equivalent to castration; ✂💢🍒
i have met very few strong men and saw their work - they don't need anyone for approval or even resources - participation is welcome, not really needed; the moral strong man makes a statement, and wen no one listens, he rolls up his sleeves and gets to work on himself & his surroundings;
Yeah. Not the perfect solution. We are lucky to live in a time when we have so many distractions and detours we can follow while running out the clock.
I discovering that the distractions don't work so well as they used to.
Wait, god did?? But the Vikings had mjöð... And the heathens had alcohol too
Figure of speech
The Story of the Star Thrower
I admire your devotion to echinoderms, but what if you substitute cockroaches in that story?
I suspect it wasn't really about starfish
Nor was it about cockroaches.
But it does matter a little what you choose to save.
The point is that you don't need to make a huge cosmic difference to have made a difference. Why should someone feel bad about having limits?
Limits I accept.
Low limits I'd rather not.
Stupid problem is knowing where each is.
Whatever your limits are is what they are. How does not accepting them help you? That just seems like living in a delusional state.
The only way we come to know our limits is by not accepting them.
boomers suck
And are largely mediocre.
lol
Wackster, thank you for asking such a hard hitting question.
If the only way not to be mediocre is to move the needle for all humanity, then hardly anyone (relative to global population across time) will escape its net.
Perhaps a better test is whether an individual manages, across his entire lifespan, to significantly move the needle of his own humanity. Is he an excellent man in general? Is he an excellent husband and father, specifically? Did he also find one or two good things to do with his time and achieve excellence in them?
In seeking to evade mediocrity's clutches, success is not that one's achievements are written into the history books but it is which version of your two potential paths you traverse. If you systematically pursue the low road, mediocrity is yours. If you systematically choose the high road, then you leave medicority behind.
I think that God, in each moment of our lives, gives us an opportunity to do not just the right action but also the better action. Yes, there will be some days when you rest and recuparate. Other days will have significant lapses in charachter and focus. But overall, if one's heart is settled on the higher path, good choices and good actions will compound over time. If so, the concern over whether one is mediocre or not will fade into insignificance because the focus will be on the higher path and the higher goals.
I've met people whose hearts were settled on the higher path, as you describe it. They did not seem to be concerned with mediocrity. That doesn't mean they had escaped it though.
Faith/religion is some way we guard against mediocrity. But I'm think it may be at the cost of being able to see reality.
What's triggering the question?
tick tock tick tocking.
If average peopple are the ones watching at "Temptation Island" i am fuckin a genius! But you know...in life only luck counts, you can be a genius in math, science, literature but without luck and a good relationship circle, you will always be one of the many inhabitants of this big rock.
Only luck counts may be the right answer. But good luck doesn't feel like enough. Don't we, in our folly, want truly great luck?
Maybe not everyone, maybe yes. But in your opinion what makes a person above mediocrity? Tell me a person in your opinion that is in that bunch of mediocrity?
This is a great question because it makes me pin it down on specifics. I can wax philosophical all day long, but the moment I have to make it real, I think I start to sound very naive. Here goes, anyway:
Steinbeck was above mediocrity. Clearly Satoshi was (is?). Fritjof Nansen, Mary Shelley...I think I mean all the typical great names.
It's not fame that makes a person above mediocrity, but having changed the world we live in to an extent much greater than just your own life.
I don't. Just embrace it.
All is well, this is fine
What does embrace it mean? Just have a good time?
More or less... Acceptance, serenity. Realising that mediocrity is what we amount to
carry your own cross today
By realizing im not mediocre. I just suck compared to some people and am pretty good compared to others
But the people to whom you compare well...most of them are mediocre. It is a big question whether mediocrity can be solved by comparison at all.
Correction: you suck compared to most people in some ways and are pretty good compared to most in others.
Love the small things that are endlessly miraculous inside the experience of being alive. Mediocre is one to describe a life well lived. If so, I love my mediocre life. In fact, I cherish it.
I've had times when I felt this way. I've done a fair job enjoying my life but it isn't always enough. Sometimes in a Sunday afternoon, I realize in a scudding cloud's shadow that I haven't made anything that even casts its own.
Delusions of grandeur, mostly. And always having a big project on the back burner.
Don't the delusions start to look a little shabby?
It's probably like children: they may be butt ugly, but when they're yours, they sure are cute.
I'd say we go through all the stages... right now I'm in denial... I hope to snap out of this one soon!!!!
Don't ask me why, because the answer is obvious!!!!
Hahahaha
Easy, just be exceptional in everything you do
If I wasn't so mediocre I would have come up with that myself.
The gym
Justification I guess? Life is short and time is long, eventually no one person will be remembered.
I almost can get there. But there are things that are cool in this world and it hurts that I haven't made any of them.
Go make them, says Confucius.
Easier said than done, old man.
I mean I think that's a healthy feeling to have, and I have it too I just try not to pay it too much mind haha
Get better.
Keep working on it till it isn't. Or more on to the next thing.
I'm a special snowflake.
Yikes.
Muy buena la informacion interesante
the bitcoin thing actually helped me here. nobody on this board's gonna be in a history book, and that used to eat at me. now i just try to hold my own keys, pay my bills, be decent to people, and let the ledger do its thing whether i'm watching or not