ADHD

Is Being Ordinary Effecting Your Self-Worth?

Society tells us to be extraordinary, but what if ordinary is okay? This excerpt argues against the pressure to be special. We're bombarded with messages that normal is boring and equates self-worth with achievements. This obsession with being extraordinary makes us feel like failures if we don't constantly one-up others. The truth is, most of us will live ordinary lives. The author argues that a little ambition is good, but the pressure to be exceptional can be crippling. We shouldn't tie our self-worth to external validation. It's time to embrace the beauty of ordinary lives and find fulfillment without needing to be extraordinary.

Nov 22, 2022 2 min read
Written by Hello From The Thought Co.. Clinically reviewed by our team
self-worth
self-worth

Ever since we were little, we’ve been ingrained with the idea that we have to be a cut above the rest, be special, and most importantly, that we should stand out. The messaging says that we have to be better than everyone or else, we would be a disaster and not worthy. Our world puts being ‘extraordinary’ and ‘competitive’ at a pinnacle. 

self-worth

It is entrenched in us that being ordinary is the absolute worst thing that could be. It is a disappointment to ourselves and the people around us. I wonder how being ordinary like the rest of humankind became a bad thing. Why are we building a world in which ordinary life is not good enough? What is so deeply wrong with it that all of us want to one up each other. 

 

Being extraordinary is the conduit of love in today's world. It is like a gateway to respect and love that we all crave and is a fundamental need. That is awful and depressive because the truth is most of us are going to live ordinary lives. 

 

I think a modest amount of ambition is great. It motivates us to get up and go. However, being unambitious is not dangerous. The danger is us feeling so inadequate with the expectations to be extraordinary placed upon us by society and ourselves that we don’t want to live at all in our excellently ordinary lives. 

 

When we completely envelope ourselves with things or achievements it is pointing to our incredible intense need for love. We have created a world in which we need to feel extraordinary by our attributes, achievement or the things we possess to feel like we have the right to exist. That is problematic. 

self-worth

We need to create a new message that it is okay to be ordinary. 

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