What scares you most in life?

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MEDIOCRITY.

Ever since I learnt the meaning of the word, the fear of mediocrity has become a thing that constantly drives me. It might have had something to do with the way the person I heard it from said it. I can't ever forget the scorn that was in his voice as he deplored all the "mediocre fools" in the country as he called them.

The word itself is pretty beautiful, "mediocrity", if you don't know the meaning. And I was fascinated by it and went to look it up immediately.

Contrary to what most people think, mediocrity isn't even the condition of being bad, or being terrible at something. But the condition of being average. Now if I had stumbled upon the word in a dictionary, and examined it myself in a vacuum, I might think oh well being average, that's not too bad, at least you don't suck.

But hearing that person speak it like that, "mediocre fools", I realized the connotation of the word is extremely derogatory, even if not inherently so. And this is beautiful because what it means basically is that the whole society has come together and decided that being average is a terrible thing! Just as worse as being bad.

Having that mindset I always set out for every thing determined to not be average. I will either try my best and bust my ass and shed sweat and blood than do it half-heartedly and be average or mediocre. I believe this is an important mindset for anyone to approach any case with. Don't strive to do it, try to do it the best possible way.

This reminds me of a line from one of my favorite all time poets, T.S Eliot. He said, "FOR US THERE'S ONLY THE TRYING. THE REST DOES NOT MATTER." I especially love how he points out the paradox of "trying" with this line. Basically what he's saying is that to achieve anything you have to focus on that thing alone. JUST THE TRYING. The emphasis should be on the effort, putting your best into it. Even if you fail then you at least know that you tried your best. And that is the great philosophy of not being mediocre by fighting consciously against it.

Another irony of the line stems from the fact that to "try" might be taken to mean: to do something lightly, half-assed, so to speak, without much effort. But when you focus and concentrate only on THE TRYING. It becomes more than just trying, but concentrating and thriving.

So there you have it, my greatest fear. The fear of being mediocre. And all along I can tell you its being fruitful. I haven't always achieved the level of perfection that I seek in everything but I've always had the joy that I give my all. I hope my answer proves satisfactory to you.

Cheers.