An Introduction

It seems to me that life doesn’t turn out how we would have planned. Or how we would have guessed. How we would have feared? Maybe. But once we get to the point of realization that life has in fact “turned out”, some sort of erosion process has occurred. Upon this point, we not only come to accept our position in life, but we can hardly imagine desiring it any other way.
And during this journey, we begin to develop philosophies that shape us and those around us. Cookie-cutter phrases that help decide which path we take in life. One of these beliefs is that you cannot categorize people-there are no stereotypes. But I have come to embrace my category: I am mediocre. Even from a young age I knew that I was never the worst student in the class, nor was I the brightest. Even at my academic peak in the third grade, Melissa Harmon read more books in the library’s read-a-thon than I did. I still remember when she passed the test for “Swiss Family Robinson” and I didn’t. It was the closest I ever came to being number 1 in the class.
And so the pattern continued, I was never the fastest or the smartest or the funniest or the biggest troublemaker. I don’t lead a life where I can attach a lot of “-est” to my titles. And that’s OK. I hope that I have finally come to the place in my journey where I realize that although I’m not going to finish first, I’m still traveling on this adventure called life.
There’s a peace in having self-actualization. It’s comforting. The only experience I can compare it to be walking into an old cathedral. Embarking into the vestibules of these inspirational structures and realizing just in fact how small the part you have played in the universe. Hundreds of years and thousands of hands have gone into shaping something much bigger than you.
And in the serenity, there is a certain freedom. This is how I view my life at the moment: this freedom to be what I was created to be. To be my own cathedral, to leave something behind that will help others on their journey. Even if it is mediocre.