If you look at our society today, you can't make it through a day without seeing an advertisement, test score, or media story that doesn't touch in some way on "measuring up". Weather it is the decades old familial "keeping up with the Jones'" or in a more personal way, attaining what is expected either in work, school, or amongst a circle of friends. Why is that people in general feel the need to measure up to others? Why do we strive to reach a certain income level, buy a certain car, live in a certain neighborhood? I believe that it is mainly because society ingrains in us from an early age that we must all achieve a certain level of success in order to be considered part of modern society. Regardless of where we are in life, we are all measured against a slew of standards; work standards, school standards, social standards. Why must these standards be applied to all of us? (Taking it a step further, why most those standards exist at all?) For those, especially in the social realm, who do not dress or act like others, they are labeled as non-conformists, rebels, anti-socialites, etc. They are not considered acceptable as portrayed by the rest of the population. In school, if you do not score high enough on standardized tests you are generally put into a lower grouping, considered "less intelligent" than others, and taught so as to bring your test scores up to those around you. There is a certain norm that permeates throughout society that society itself tries to hold all of us to. For the most part, many of us will not reach those societal norms, that comfortable level where we feel we are completely welcomed by society.
Are we not all unique individuals with varying strengths and weaknesses, different opinions and views of the world, an array of levels of intelligence? According to the constitution of the United States, we are all created equal. While this is true on one level, the fact that we all should have equal rights when it comes to accessing society and what it has to offer, it has for the most part been misconstrued and been brought to mean that we are all the same or we all should be the same. If we truly believe that we are all unique individuals, then we should abhor the standard that society puts forth and seek instead to reach our own fullest potential, based not on those around us, but based instead upon ourselves and what we know our capabilities to be. To compare ourselves perpetually to others is to set ourselves up inevitably for some degree of failure for we can never achieve fully what someone else can achieve. In part, we may be able to match others, but not as a whole, for if we could, then we all would be identical. Some of us can achieve more in certain areas, in other areas less. This is not to say that we can not learn from others, for we can, but only insofar as our own capabilities permit us to. We can grow and seek to expand what we are capable of, but we should only go so far as we need to, not as far as society needs us to. There comes a point that we all reach where we can not push anymore, where we get burnt out and tired of pushing. Society says if we have not attained the level that others have, we should push even more regardless of the effects it has on us and those around us. If we feel we have reached our full potential, then that should suffice.
Not everyone feels the tangible pull of society to reach a certain standard. Some are oblivious to it. Some don't care and forge their own way ahead. There are many people, however, who vaguely feel the pull and live their lives constantly seeking to achieve that standard whether it is in the workplace or in their life in general. I would like to think that I am one of the ones who sees how people are pulled and disavow all attempts of society to compare me to others and see how I measure up. My goal in life is to do the best I can in the areas that I am good at, not because society tells me I should be better than those around me, but because I want to be the best person that I can be. It is a fine line at times that even I catch myself crossing and when I do, I immediately retreat, re-examine where I am in life, and then proceed according to what I believe. Take some time to examine where you are, if you are getting pulled by society to meet a certain standard, getting pulled by work to meet the norms of the institution, or getting pulled by school to get that perfect score. We can not all be perfect; in fact I believe that perfection is unattainable. There will always be something that stands in the way of perfection. Nothing is perfect, yet society wants us to believe that perfection is right around the corner. If we can all come to a tacit understanding that perfection is unattainable, perhaps we can all be happier with the lives that we live. Perhaps we can all be satisfied with where we are in life and not find the little nuances that keep us away from being that perfect fit for society. Embrace your imperfections, abolish the standard, and carve your own way through life; that way that is uniquely your own and can be owned by no one but yourself.
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