Mediocrity For Me

Summary

The author reflects on personal and societal mediocrity, acknowledging their own shortcomings while critiquing broader economic, mental health, and cultural issues, and emphasizes the importance of personal accountability and balance.

Abstract

The article "Mediocrity For Me" delves into the author's introspection about their life at 33, marked by personal challenges such as debt, procrastination, and a career in a field they don't love, amidst a backdrop of economic strain and societal issues in the U.S. The author is addressing these issues but also recognizes the need for self-criticism and urgency. They highlight the financial pressures faced by many Americans, including inflation, rising interest rates, and various forms of debt, while also pointing out systemic problems like corporate mismanagement and governmental failures. The author notes the rise in suicide rates, depression, and the strain on mental healthcare resources, suggesting that personal accountability is key to addressing these societal woes. Additionally, the author perceives a decline in the quality of art and entertainment, as well as customer service, indicating a broader cultural mediocrity. Despite these challenges, the author expresses gratitude for their supportive parents and acknowledges the need to balance high personal standards with well-being, aiming to improve without judgment.

Opinions

The author believes that despite being told they are too hard on themselves, their current situation warrants self-criticism and urgency.
They suggest that the economic landscape of the U.S. is challenging, with inflation, rising interest rates, and various forms of debt affecting even high earners.
The author is critical of systemic issues, such as corporate malfeasance and government inefficiency, indicating these entities are not looking out for the average citizen.
Mental health issues are seen as a growing concern, with the author emphasizing the need for proactive measures starting with personal accountability.
There is a perception that the quality of art, entertainment, and customer service has declined, contributing to a sense of cultural mediocrity.
The author values their parents' support and the opportunities they've been given, feeling a sense of shame for not meeting their own expectations.
They recognize the importance of finding balance to prevent their high standards from negatively impacting their well-being and relationships with others.
The author advocates for self-improvement out of beneficial recognition rather than necessity, indicating a desire to better themselves without judgment of others.

Mediocrity For Me

Recently, so many people in my life have told me that I’m too hard on myself. Close friends, my supervisor, several different therapists, coworkers, and my parents. Although the context for each has a wide range, I appreciate people taking the time to lend me insight. The irony that’s tough for me to get past is that, for lack of a better term, I still suck. As I sit here today I’m 33 years old, 25 pounds overweight, in $7,000 of debt, procrastinating on about 40 other things I should be doing, in a career field I don’t love, too scared to live out my dreams, and going through a divorce.

*This is far from a ploy for pity, so bear with me. There’s a bit I do have going for me but I risk not conveying the point without a certain level of frankness.*

All of the aforementioned shortcomings are being addressed on a daily basis, in one form or another, and the expectation is to have most resolved within the year. However, the way I see it, if anyone should have a fire, if anyone should be self-critical, and if anyone should show urgency about their future (near and far), it’s me. Voltaire warned us about making perfection the enemy of good. Sound advice until you consider that the merits of these two distinctions may be skewed.

Our current financial landscape in the U.S. is 7.1% inflation, interest rates rising and housing costs up. Couple that with half of six figure earners living paycheck to paycheck, $925 billion in credit card debt, $195 billion in medical debt, $1.617 trillion in student loan debt, banks like Wells Fargo getting another slap on the wrist to the tune of $3.7 billion for loan mismanagement, $3.7 billion lost in the FTX scandal, increasing ratio of CEO to median worker compensation, and The Pentagon failing an audit for the fifth time, and it’s safe to say that Washington D.C., CEOs, and our fellow citizens aren’t looking out for us. Circumstances being what they are, it seems to me that if any profound and immediate change is set to happen it has to start with ourselves.

Speaking of our fellow citizens, how are they feeling? We having rising suicide rates and an estimated 33 million of Americans suffering from depression while mental healthcare workers struggle to meet the demand. We can either ignore the grim trends to save our personal mind states or acknowledge the problems and accept they likely won’t go away without proactive measures. I believe that such measures would begin with personal accountability. Not only does this bear invaluable power, we also can’t be stripped of it.

“I have offended God and mankind because my work didn’t reach the quality it should have” – Leonardo da Vinci

Even our art and entertainment seem to suffer from this slew of mediocrity. Music, both indie and mainstream, seem to be largely uninspired, the film industry is dying to give you another reboot or a super hero movie, or of course a reboot of a super hero movie. Television seems to wring everything out of any viable intellectual property they can get their hands on, with little regard to actual ratings. If you’ve felt that customer service has dipped and left a bit to be desired over the years, you’re not alone — meaning a night on the town with friends or a weekend getaway with a significant other can be sullied by the state of things.

We’ll turn things back on the guy that stayed up late to publish an article, all the while pretending like anyone gives a damn. I’ve used my affinity for writing to share my immense gratitude for both my mom and my dad. Recently I’ve had to explore what having two amazing parents means to me and how I carry it on a daily basis. Not only do I hold their parenting in high regard but I also consider them to be the strongest marriage/relationship I’ve ever known. Tie these things together with the fact that they gave me just about every conceivable opportunity to succeed and it may come as no surprise that I can’t help but feel the shame associated with falling short of my own expectations. Since there’s almost nothing I can do to lose their support and understanding, I feel the need to set my own reasonable standards. The standards, although reasonable, at times cause me to unfairly project onto others, stress, lash out, neglect my well-being, and overindulge. The logical explanation (and a theme for almost all my writing) is to find the necessary balance between these things — Understand that my drive and expectations have brought me great success but can also be my undoing and that the world’s problems aren’t for me to bear. I’m no one to judge others and I’ll be better. I’ll be better, not out of need, but out of beneficial recognition.

We could’ve touched on the dire state of education within the United States but we’ll have the omission serve as yet another wink to mediocrity.