Striving for Mediocrity...

What has the world come to? Little league games don’t keep score. Teachers don’t use a red pen. Some don’t even do grades. Raises are given yearly in most occupations – the same percentage to the best employee and the worst. In this world of political correctness, have we forgotten that there is something better than mediocrity?

All of my life I have struggled against the urge to be mediocre. The mediocre grade school student turned in most assignments, mostly on-time, mostly complete, and partly correct. In high school, the typical student cheated on homework, slacked when the coach wasn’t looking in practice, and chose fun over success. In college, a mediocre student didn’t do the homework that wasn’t graded, cheated on tests, and spent more time worried about what was going on that weekend than what test was coming up. In the Church, mediocre people decide that to live as the Church teaches is just too hard, so as long as they are better than that guy or that lady, they will be fine. In the work place, an employee doesn’t do work that they know a co-worker will do or find ways to avoid it. In short, mediocrity is laziness. As Mr. Incredible said in The Incredibles, we keep finding ways to celebrate mediocrity and make it seem acceptable. I can’t help but wonder – what if everyone strived to be great? What if everyone worked hard in school? What if everyone worked hard at work? What if everyone’s primary goal was to be a Saint?

We live in a world where excellence is mocked. Think about that smart kid that always did his/her homework and was happy for extra credit assignments. Did you have a kid that wanted that valedictorian award so bad they started doing homework on the weekends? Was that kid accepted in your school? What about that guy/lady at work who comes early, stays late, and works his/her tail off while they are there? Does he/she stay home with the sniffles?

I know I am far from excellent. I struggle with mediocrity every day. It’s easier to be the person who sits back and watches someone else do the work. It’s far easier to say, “Well I am a better person than that guy because he does this thing that I don’t do.” But does settling get you to Heaven? I’ve heard it said to reach for Heaven, but be happy with Purgatory. Reaching for Purgatory, you might not make it in.

I’m not just talking about big things either. It is easy to give your all in a game. It is easy to go in for a big test in school and give your best effort. Even focusing on bettering yourself during Lent is easier than trying all year long. But as St. Augustine said, “You aspire to great things? Begin with the little ones.” Reach for greatness in all that you do and you might just achieve it a couple of times in your life. I know that when I have truly reached for greatness and not settled, I have been blessed to find success.

I don’t mean to preach, because I am guilty of this every day, but I just had to rant about it after hearing about yet another example on a sports show today where little league hockey will not be keeping score this year. It is important to note that unless someone loses you cannot win and if there are no losers, there can be no winners. So if we remove all failure from our world, there is no way to succeed. If there is nothing bad, there cannot be greatness. Let’s strive for greatness – and if we stumble and fail in this, we try again and persevere to be better than mediocre.