Monday, June 26, 2017

What is it that sets brilliance apart from mediocrity?


That was the exact question I asked Google; and I didn't get any full answers. Then I thought of Malcolm X, and I remember writing how these elements are what appear necessary for greatness: sincerity, discipline, courage and wit. At the same time, I'm realising comfort is a pitfall for mediocrity. If you're too comfortable where you are, you're probably not struggling or striving for anything, which means you're bound for, if not already mired in, mediocrity.

Passion too. Passion is probably the catalytic element that drives everything else. Passion is something I find immediately attractive in other people.

I'm thinking about all this because some days, I feel myself sinking into pits of despair or traps of my own mind, when I think on the trajectory of my life and how it's all mapped out; thinking that this is it, the circumstances of my life make who I am; and I can see the ends of my predictable days living out a supposedly-satisfactorily mediocre existence. I need to lift myself above this. I need to be living reaching out for the stars.

Because of my faith, I have another world to aspire to, Alhamdulillah. But even as I live this life out, I aspire to be more than I am, more than this apparent trajectory. Bi irtibat bi Sayidina Nabi, insya Allah.

God, please please please make me bigger than myself.

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