Mediocrity

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"Mediocrity is never so dangerous as when it is dressed up as sincerity"-Søren Kierkegaard Saw this quote on the web one day while i was reading the news, and gave it some thought while driving home from work. Mediocrity. It applies to many things in life. In work or in life, being average is certainly no crime. In fact, i'm very ordinary in many aspects. An average person with an average life. But sincerity. Sincerity is a different thing. It is one of the qualities that only humans knew how to manipulate and used to deceive others. Animals never lie because it's not in their nature. And nature did not change them because they are one with nature while we always strive to "master" nature. Well, that statement is certainly obvious especially in the 'entertainment' industry like films and in the (as much as i hate to say it) music industries. I do not think of music as just 'entertainment' because it's such an important part of what i am. People who loved films would feel the same too. Many singers and so-called artists and musicians are really mediocre these days. You only have to look deeper to realise it. Take away the veneer of skin deep appearance and you will find a shallow shell that places more importance on looks than real musical talents. Many could sing and have 'big' voices but lack any real emotions. Many confuse the ability to sing with a real intention to sing. But do people still care? I don't have the answer for that. What is more sad is there are areas which mediocrity should not be an option at all but were made to; such as in institution like education, healthcare, public service. It is indeed sad to read about babies dying or made to suffer because of incompetent medical personnel, as what happen in where i lived. Are not the duties of educators, life savers and public servants to serve humanities? And isn't a sincere desire to serve a requirement for these profession? Sincerity is a choice we make while we normally don't have much say if we're just mediocre in something. But we do have a say if we're mediocre in something we do. We can always strive to improve ourselves. And if that fails, we could find something else which we're good at.