“Be content with what you have!” It is a common quote which most of us have heard in our lifetime. But is it always true? And does this contentment really give us happiness and fulfill our wishes?

Being mediocre and re­maining satisfied with the things received through life is sometimes not enough. Although being gratified is not bad, one should always have a fighting and inspir­ing spirit to be the best pos­sible person and reach to the uppermost level of ex­cellence.

A person is not born to be mediocre, but some traits, such as apathy, in­difference, doubt, fear, procrastination and inse­curity make him or her an ordinary and average per­son. People settle with the “disease” that is mediocrity mainly because of laziness, and in the days following a return from break, most stu­dents adapt to it.

Once students succumb to mediocrity, most don’t even try to be better be­cause of common instinc­tive attitudes occupying our minds. For instance, not ev­eryone is born to become an Einstein or Serena Williams.

Most of the students in high schools don’t care about their grade, skip their assignments, and become easily satisfied by just get­ting 50 percent marks in the class for their work. Some even feel proud pass­ing a class, but using unfair means. Others just rely on some miracle to happen by God in order to pass the class.

The main problem is that people don’t value or trust themselves enough to maximize their potential. It is a startling fact that the young generation of our so­ciety is not at all interested in increasing their efforts to become the future builders of our nation.

In this fast, hurtling world where our nation is compared with the interna­tional standards of excel­lence, there is an instant need to raise our effort to compete with the rest of the world and leave behind the lethargic attitude that is cur­rently present.

The present need is to light the candles in the dark­ness of the life of these me­diocre people in order for them to put forth effort and not just sit idle waiting for magic to happen to change their world. The moment people expect less from themselves, they won’t be able to achieve anything, and they instead may feel useless and worthless to even work hard for it.

Sometimes, people are comfortable with what re­sults they generate, but by comparing the results with the others, they feel jealous and inferior. This develop­ing inferiority complex pro­duces hard work day and night, and these efforts then become the stepping-stones to a great future.

As a result, competitive­ness and comparison are the two main things required for a person to change from a mediocre to a dedicated, diligent individual.

Thus, “the general ten­dency of the things through­out the world is to render mediocrity as the ascendant power among humans.”