Mediocrity and Condemnation

“When condemnation, with all its implications, has ceased, is it possible to find out what it is that brings about the state of mediocrity?” Commentaries on Living, series two, chapter twenty-three

Living is a matter of rising to the occasion…and resting. The occasion is always now, so you can’t always rise to it because you need rest. Rising requires energy, and when your energy is low, you have doubts about what you can do. It’s a confounding situation. You’re alert enough to see what the occasion requires, but you don’t have the energy to do it. Nor do you have the discipline to withdraw and rest and restore your energy. Your energy level is always too low to rise to the occasion because you haven’t rested enough to be restored. You’re too restless to rise.

You’re stuck in the rut of mediocrity, the path of least resistance. No matter what you do, it’s not enough, or it’s the wrong thing. Nothing changes or develops. All for the lack of energy that comes with rest and restoration, but is sapped by restlessness. Mediocrity is a restless mind. It can’t quit wasting energy for fear of what more energy will reveal.

The mediocre mind is self-defeating because self-possession is all it knows. It’s afraid of being alone, unaccompanied by its echo. And the mediocre mind is lost. Having no sense of direction, it looks for someone to follow, and the most appealing leader is an excellent mind. Every mediocrity’s dream is to be excellent, so mediocre minds follow minds who demonstrate the kind of excellency they aspire to.