My Thanks to Above Average People

Recently I have had the fortunate experience of casual conversation with several individuals who were quite impressed with their own current standing in society. They were not hesitant to divulge their achievements and were internally and externally impressed with themselves. Initially, I was slightly baffled by their seemingly absent inhibition, but then I realized this was essentially due to a lack of previous exposure to people of this nature.

I do not necessarily believe these people were going on about themselves intentionally or as a mechanism to elevate their own personal status, they were simply doing what they have probably been doing since they could communicate. It has become a part of who they are, just as much as it is a part of who I am, in not doing it.

However, just because I do not openly discuss my achievements with partial strangers does not mean I am innocent, I simply gloat to myself. My perception of self is strong and I am definitely feeding the same beast, I just do not make others swallow it too.

This works really well for me because I am chiefly concerned with my own self perception, more so than I am concerned with others' perception of me. I do not mean to disappoint, but I do not really care what you think about me, I care about what I think about me. But do we not all share in this conflict, I would imagine so?

The real point of writing about my encounter with these interesting people though was to thank them for reminding me of my enjoyment of being average. This is not to indicate that complacency is desirable, because I am a strong advocate of exercising our potential, but rather to realize that struggling through the obstacles of being a high achiever is a lot of work and not a battle to which we are all called. I really do not mind being in the hump, it is not a bad place to be, as long as I am using my capabilities and doing what is asked of me.