On Being Unexceptional

I’ve always had a competitive spirit within me. Although I’ve managed to relegate it to a slightly muted stage by this point in my life, it is still there; lurking somewhere close in the shadows and waiting to pounce when I least expect it. It whispers in my ear, prodding me to be the best I can be and reminding me that I must subdue the opposition whether real or merely perceived. Drive and determination are considered by the world to be qualities in which we should aspire, while those misguided individuals who settle for second best should be summarily dismissed. By any unit of measure, being unexceptional is viewed by those ‘in the know’ as a character flaw.

That’s sad. But its sadness makes it no less true.

In my heart of hearts, I’ve accepted my lot in life. It is too late in the game to realistically aspire to one day taking up residence in the Oval Office. To change careers and go into teaching, which I probably should have done from the start, is no longer a viable option. But you still can, people do this all the time! No. Not me. Financially, emotionally, and mentally I have become as one with Popeye the Sailor: I yam what I yam. And I’m pretty comfortable with it, except when that voice I mentioned earlier whispers to me, seducing me with visions of things that could (or should) be.

Am I depressed this morning? Is that what I am saying? No. Not by any means. In fact, my life has been a life full of blessings realized and hopes and dreams achieved, and I cannot deny it by any stretch of my very active imagination. I see those blessings in the faces of my children. I’m reminded of them by the many smiles my wife and I share together. I can hear it in the laughter of my grand-daughter. Life has been very, very good to me.

How can you measure success? What standards do we follow and who wrote them? Are we considered successful by the size of the house in which we live or the model of vehicle we drive? Is it in the available balance shown on our checking account statement? Can it be found in our position at work or our stature in the community? Maybe in the praise of those that know us or the plaudits of those who don’t, we can find some measurable semblance of where we stand in the annals of history. We all want to count, to matter, to mean something, and to leave behind a legacy so we will not be forgotten once our time here is up.

Success is a game, and it is a dangerous one at best. To become ensconced in the lure of fame and fortune can have an adverse effect on your life and the meaning of it. Left to its own devices, a drive for success can cause a person to forget who they are and become someone else altogether. This has been a hard lesson for me to learn in my life, but by George, I think I finally get it. When I get to Heaven and stand before the Father, He is not going to ask me why I wasn’t more like Billy Graham; He will want to know why I wasn’t more like me. That is a sobering thought.

Jesus has His own method of measuring our success, and He spoke of it in Mark 8: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

There is nothing wrong with a determination and drive for finding success. We are to work hard and do our best, and to always be the best that we can be. But all of our efforts should be tempered by placing eternal goals above the earthly ones we pursue. The things we do here on earth, the purchases we make and the goals we achieve are fleeting and ephemeral at best. Though they may be great and make us happy today, usually by tomorrow we'll find ourselves working hard toward something else.

It is much too easy for me to lose sight of who I am and where I’m going if I concentrate only on the here and now. I’ll take unexceptional here on earth any day if it means a greater reward will be waiting for me in eternity.

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