There’s a song on the radio that asks that very question, and my answer is always the same: Once. Just once, and bam—it’s stuck. It takes root.
I was catching up with a friend recently when she admitted she had always viewed herself as a “failure.” When I told her I’d always seen myself as “mediocre,” she actually thought that sounded better. But as the words hung in the air, I realized we were both falling for the same trap. Whether the label is “failure” or “mediocre,” they are both lies from the same source—deceptions designed to keep us small.
I’ll be honest: I have “evidence” for my mediocrity. As a teacher, I noticed that fellow educators rarely requested me for their own children. As a pianist, I’ve watched trauma and illness slow the connection between my brain and my hands. Even back in college, coming from a small, po-dunk Indiana high school, I felt miles behind the students who had private lessons and music theory before they even stepped onto a college campus. In a world of elite performers, “mediocre” felt like a factual diagnosis.
But here is where we have to separate fact from fiction.
Is there always going to be someone “better” at a craft? Fact. Does that make you mediocre or a failure in the eyes of your Creator? Fiction.
When we choose to believe the labels the world (or our own insecurities) places on us, it changes the way we see everyone else. We start viewing life as a leaderboard rather than a calling.
This is a work in progress for me. I’m stepping on my own toes just writing this, and I don’t have all the answers yet. But I’m looking for a “band-aid” for us both—something that heals the sting of these lies.
Stick with me. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look for the truth together.