Acceptance of Both Expectations and Reality

A common problem encountered in life is the mental crisis that results from personal expectations not coinciding with reality.

When people expect one thing of themselves, yet conduct their lives in a different manner, a sort of cognitive dissonance occurs, forcing them to perpetually reevaluate.

For example - Someone may want to achieve great things, yet their environment encourages normality and a state of being average. The likelihood of said person being average is statistically greater than not, the exception being in regards to those with a high level of discipline.

On the other hand, a person may want nothing but to live a quiet and fairly uneventful life. They may wish to be nothing and do nothing, yet everyone around pushes them to be "greater" and go do "better things".

It can be argued that both are ok. However, whether one chooses to be great or whether one chooses to be average, know what each of those entails in its entirety and accept it.

The greatest things in life do not come easily to those who are average. To choose normality is to accept less than everything that one could become and have in life.

Similarly, the path to greatness in all its various forms is anything but easy. To choose this is to specifically highlight oneself as a target for criticism, ridicule, and doubt. Most who have failed along this way will eagerly await the downfall of whoever chooses it next.

Whatever you choose in life, do so knowingly. There's more respect for the person who consciously chooses to be average than for the person who loudly speaks of being better than average, yet never does anything beyond that.

Aaron N.