Mediocrity is the new black

I’ve noticed that some of the hardest working, most driven individuals tend to feel unhappy, unsuccessful and mediocre. A few people I know come to mind; people I admire for many different reasons, people that have so much going for them but, for some reason, it just isn’t enough.

Here is the paradox: I know other, less admirable people; people who have very little accomplishments, no plans for their future, people who rely on luck, rely on others. Yet these people seem happier. They seem to take things as they come, staying down for only a few moments at a time when their mediocrity is brought to their attention. For the most part, they don’t feel mediocre. They feel quite alright.

So who should we envy? The ambitious people of the world who are always peering over the fence towards the greener side, or our mediocre neighbors that settle their lawn chairs onto their patchy grass with a glass of lemonade in their hands and a smile fixed on their smug faces?

While our carefree neighbors may seem to be making it, at the end of the day one fact remains: we live in a meritocracy—a society in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement. What does this mean? Oh, something very simple: only the strong survive. And in the end, those who struggled will come out stronger. And those who took the easy road and were ahead in the beginning, will be left in the dust.