Stuck in the Middle With You

I've been told recently that I'm mediocre. A few people have said that.
My looks, my intelligence, my work ethic, my attitude, my life. Apparently everything about me is mediocre.
But I don't see it that way....

Granted, I'm not the Go-to-Extremes-Gal, but I would hardly say that I am mediocre. I don't have to jump out of an airplane once a week; when I get mad, I don't have to start cussing and fighting with everyone I see just to show how mad I really am. I don't have to get in your face and prove that I'm the best at something, nor do I have to completely tank something for it to be a failure. Now, this may seem like the definition of mediocre, but I see it differently.
I don't need to have the absolute best day ever, nor do I need to have the worst day ever. In this aspect, I see myself as Goldilocks. I like things to be Just Right. Not too cold and not too hot. Not to one extreme or the other, but sitting happily in the middle.

No one is a fan of the really terrible days. No one wants the worst possible scenarios to keep happening to them during the day. On the other hand, a majority of people would love to have extraordinary days every day. They want each day to be spectacular and to top the day before. Most people believe that if they haven't done something astonishing with their day, then the day was wasted. As usual, I'm not with the crowd on this. I think that just because you haven't done something outlandish with your day doesn't mean that your day was wasted. As I mentioned in the post "The Little Things Mean the Most," to me, life isn't about having all of these grand gestures. It's about the little things that add up.

I didn't rescue a kitten out of a tree. I didn't perform high-risk surgery on a patient and have everything turn out perfectly. I didn't write a chart-topping song and win 8 Grammy awards for it. I didn't come up with a cure for baldness. I didn't do any of these things today, but I did compliment a lady on her new hairstyle, and she told me that it made her day for me to notice. Knowing that I made an iota of a positive impact on someone's life means that I had a good day. It might have been a rough day otherwise, but for a moment, I knew that one person appreciated something I had done. It was a good day. So even though it was a rough day and had the potential to become an awful day, putting one positive spin into the mix made it a good day; it wasn't a great day, but it was a good day.

Perhaps I'm not as dramatic as a lot of people: I don't declare that the world is ending because of a snag in my day; I don't break down and cry at the drop of a hat. I have my bad days, but I look for at least one good thing that happened. I look for the cup of sunshine in the basin full of sorrows.


My Attitude:
While I don't believe the world to be puppies and rainbows, I also believe that not everything in life can be bad. I like to think that I have a realistic view on things: There are going to be good times as well as bad times. But the important part is that there are going to be good times. Odds are that something will go wrong in your life on a daily basis, but you should be sure to remember all the things that have gone right, also. I didn't find the love of my life while trapped in an elevator this afternoon, but the cute fireman who rescued us smiled at me. There's my silver lining.

My Work Ethic:
I happen to believe that I have an outstanding work ethic. I do my best to accomplish every task that I set before myself. My goals may not be as ambitious as other people's but if I plan to finish something, it gets done. As long as I am doing my absolute best on my task, then I am satisfied. I don't have to prove to you that I can do something harder, better, faster, or stronger than you can. If your goal in life is to beat me, then go ahead; however, that has nothing to do with what I want to accomplish, so I won't be participating in your little competition.

My Intelligence:
I know that I'm not the smartest person in the world. Not by a long shot. But I have a killer combination of common sense and book smarts. If I need to know something, but haven't the first clue about it, I will figure it out. I won't settle for not-knowing; I made the Dean's List for six semesters while in college, and earned my Bachelor's degree with honors. I didn't know most of the information taught, but I learned what was necessary to accomplish my goals. It took a lot of work, but I knew what I had to do, and I was able to work my way through it without giving up.

My Appearance:
I am not now, nor have I ever been, a size 0 girl; I am also not morbidly obese. I'm a thick girl, but I'm healthy. I don't always like what I see in the mirror, but I like who I am. I don't usually go out without a little makeup on, but I also don't leave the house looking like a drag queen because I'm so insecure with how I look. I use a few makeup tricks to enhance my looks, but I don't ever try to cover up what I truly look like. I know that I don't look like a supermodel, but I'm not ashamed to show my face out in public. I am happy with how I look. Just because you have to wear 8 pounds of makeup to go grocery shopping doesn't mean that the rest of us should be ashamed of what we look like. (See the post "You Don't Get to Comment on My Body" for more on this topic.)

My Life:
I know that my life seems boring to some people. They mock the fact that I would rather stay home and build a fort to watch movies in than to go downtown and party the night away. But the truth is, I like my life. I like staying at home in my comfy pants and having a bowl of ice cream. I like talking to my kids about how school was for them that day. I'd rather go to church on New Year's Eve than go bar-hopping. Sure, it's nice to get dressed up and go out every once in a while, but I'm content sitting at home talking to my best friend. It's my life. I don't need your approval, but I do require your respect.


Maybe you see my life as mediocre. And if you do, I suppose there is nothing I can do to change your mind. But I see my life through Goldilocks eyes. It's just right for me. I have my good stories. I have my bad stories. And then I have my awkward stories. But all of these combined are what have made me who I am. I don't go bungee jumping, I don't look for the next big thing to do. But I also don't sit around wondering why my life sucks. I like my life. I enjoy being able to sit around the dinner table telling stories about work, and then smiling because of something one of my kids said in response. I like knowing that I worked my hardest on a project, even if you think the project wasn't worth working on to begin with.

Maybe you see my life as mediocre. I wouldn't have it any other way. It's just right. What do you think? Do you think I am just mediocre? Do you think I have an odd perspective about things? Do you think I should want to be more ambitious with my life, or do you think there is nothing wrong with my system? Like I said, I know I'm the best (nor the worst) at anything. But I generally like where I am in life. As always, I look forward to hearing what you have to say.