Celebrating Being Average

I’m not sure how common this experience is and maybe you can tell me. I will sometimes find
myself scrolling through my newsfeed on social media and experiencing feelings of inadequacy,
lacking, or not-enough-ness. I read all the stories about others being the best, the top, or
achieving much success and, while I celebrate their joys (I truly do), I can’t help but feel a bit of
sting as I look inward. I ask myself, “what do you have to show for?” or “what are you the best
at?” and then I quickly go to “maybe you’re just jealous” or “why can’t you just be happy for
them and leave it at that?”
I’ve been reflecting on this experience and thought it might be worthwhile sharing just in case
others are experiencing the same thing. I like to think of myself as average so there’s a pretty
good chance the other average ones may understand these sentiments. In my reflections, I
decided that, instead of trying to find what I have to show for, it might be helpful to think about
what makes me average and celebrate that instead. Just for context, here is the definition of
average that I’m using as reference: of the usual or ordinary standard, level, or quantity.
Here’s an initial list of my averages:

1. I’m an average student. I never really received high grades and even now, as I take a
   master’s program in a topic I find fascinating, I’m still performing at an average mark
   despite a lot of effort I’m putting into my studies. I recently received my average grade
   for my latest module and am over the moon about it!
2. I’m an average reader. I like buying books that I find interesting and will take forever to
   read them (if I even get to it) and I cannot, for the life of me, quote passages or one-
   liners in an intellectual conversation. When I do get to finish a book, I feel so
   accomplished!
3. I’m an average cook. I enjoy preparing meals for my family and friends and I can follow a
   recipe well enough, and while serving it I will ask “Do you like it?” just because no one is
   commenting about the food. And if they say, “Yeah it’s good!” I celebrate that even if
   they’re just trying to be polite or thankful that I didn’t mess it up so badly.
4. I’m an average athlete. I was never the strongest rower or runner in my team and there
   were always others who had natural strengths in whatever sport they got into. I have to
   exert extra effort to get by and would find my space in the middle of the pack and enjoy
   myself there.
5. I’m an average entrepreneur. I’ve been running a business for over a decade, and we’ve
   scaled it to an average size, and I still stay up at night worrying about the next pay cycles
   and keeping things afloat. I celebrate the moments when we get through the difficult
   times together with my team.
   I can add so much more to this list, but I don’t really feel a need to. It’s an average amount to
   reinforce just how average I am. Please don’t mistake this article to mean I am looking for
   affirmation on things I’m great at. I like to think I’m aware of the things I can do quite well. I just
   thought it would be nice for a change to allow ourselves to celebrate being average because

most of us are and that’s perfectly okay. I’d love to hear your average stories so I can celebrate them with you!