On Being Average

I was a fairly smart kid growing. I always had great grades and I was known to teachers as the student who usually went the extra mile on her work. I was on the principal’s list and a honor student. I was smart just enough to be competitive about it and to think that being smart was my thing. And then I came to law school and I felt like the dumbest kid in class.

I became what I really hope I wouldn’t become: average.

When we feel like game changers, movers, and shakers, there always seems to be that someone who ruins our dreams by telling us that we simply aren’t good enough. We find out that the small town kid who moves to the big city is not much more than a hometown hero. We find out that the thing that makes us special isn’t really special.

But there’s got to be a place for us average folk. There has to be a place where we can not only do our best, but be the best…Right?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: nobody is the same. No one has been where you were, done what you’ve done, thought what you’ve thought just the same way you have. So those discrepancies have to come in use somehow, no?

After, realizing that my intelligence was little past average, I realize there was something I’ve been ignoring for way too long: my natural talents. Turns out that I am pretty special and useful, just not in the way I thought I was.

So, I beg you not to dismiss your natural talents just because they don’t exactly fit in with what you do. Incorporate your them into your everyday business, or at the very least, let them influence you regularly. It’ll keep you happy and adaptable. And by giving you a sense of purpose, your natural talents will keep you hopeful about the future that someone will need you somewhere.

The way I look at it, keeping in touch with your inner-expertise is like finding a bit of what you know everywhere you go. Now, I’m not saying you should play it safe. On the contrary, I think you should see how far you can push your natural talents. Take them and follow my absolutely favorite piece of advice: walk in the direction of your fear.

The best part of it? Well, besides finding a sense of fulfillment and belonging, by the time you’re through, you’ll realize that you’re not so average after all.