Depression and anxiety are running rampant, and it just might be because of an idea imbedded in our subconscious minds that we can’t just be human, we have to be superhuman. 

Maybe you’ve seen this quote that is supposed to be inspirational but is downright maddening: 

“You and Oprah have the same amount of hours in your day. So what’s your excuse?” 

FIRST THING’S FIRST: tell yourself immediately that you don’t owe society an excuse as to why you’re not a billionaire. 

EVEN IF nobody in our lives has specifically pressured us to succeed, we see from a very early age how only the overachievers and miraculous outliers get worshipped and memorialized. The best people, it appears to be, are the most freakishly talented, superhumanly driven among us. Naturally, we don’t think we’re good enough until we can achieve epic levels of success or courageous acts of trailblazing. The sad thing about this is that not only is it perfectly okay to not be a force of nature, but 99.9% of us just aren’t! And, the tiny fraction who are, are not very happy people. Sometimes they’re not even very good people!

Why does society only celebrate those who have accomplished great feats? We extol those who have overcome adversity, but what about those who haven’t? Are they less valuable? Less worthy of our recognition? That certainly seems to be the case. As a result, we scold ourselves for falling short of fame and fortune, we hustle to create a legacy as if the rich and famous are somehow immortal. “Michael Jackson will be remembered forever”, we think, “But I’ll be forgotten. If only I were remarkable…” 

But guess what? That’s an illusion, because in fifty or a hundred years he will be forgotten, and when the planet ceases to exist, everybody will be forgotten. YOU ARE JUST AS REMARKABLE AS WHOEVER YOU THINK IS THE MOST REMARKABLE HUMAN. You can have hopes and dreams and plans and goals, but your value will stay the same no matter your successes or failures. 

We’ve come to believe that our value is related to what we contribute to the economy. We believe that we should either be unnaturally talented or so driven that no adversity stands in our way of climbing to the very top, and it’s probably because capitalism needs us to believe this in order for it to thrive. But you don’t owe your life to capitalism. If you live your whole life without accomplishing anything that impresses people, you’re just as special as someone who does. You can aim for the stars, and that’s a beautiful thing, but if you don’t reach them, you’re still perfect. If your rocket ship doesn’t even figure out how to take off, you’re still perfect. If you don’t even care to launch your rocket ship, you’re still perfect. It’s hard to believe right away, so just think about it.