That Six Percent

We all like to think that we're better.

Better than our neighbor, better than our boss, better than our friends.

On the surface, that's the secret behind oh-so-many of us holding firm in the belief we're above average.

When asked, are you above average?

Ninety-four percent of us say, yes.

Ninety-four percent of us.

Above the fifty percent line.

It's the thought, that we don't have to be the best, we just have to be doing better than most, that grants us this delusion.

Our peace of mind, rather.

There are so very few people we see that we think highly of.

Who do you admire?

Truly.

A couple, at most.

Now.

Who do you look down on?

Really.

More than a couple, at least.

Our self-reports mean nothing.

Because at our cores, we are all afraid that we mean nothing.

We all present otherwise.

Of course we all present otherwise.

What else is life other than just a grand scheme?

Posturing. Endlessly.

Have you ever met anyone who doesn't?

Our hate, struggles, and stress would consume us if we didn't.

It's how we sleep at night.

Deeper, beneath the surface of our secret, is the final realization that our hold on this belief is weak.

Because in our hearts, we don't want to be better than others.

We want to be better than the perspective we fear other people have of us.

If we're afraid we'll die alone, that we'll leave nothing behind, we all just want to live a life we're satisfied with.

And how is satisfaction measured?

Above par, I would imagine.

And where is par?

Halve the lives on this planet, and see the top half.

That's where we'd like to be.

It's not too hard to understand.

And it's easy to believe in the lies we tell ourselves.

Why not study it?

It's fascinating.

I get it.

So, ask me where I think I rank.

And, of course I will tell you, 

Above that 50% margin.

But.

We could all take a note from that lost minority.

The six percent.

When asked, where do you place yourself?

They answered, below average.

What do you think it takes to give such an answer?

Humility, sure.

Clarity, certainly.

It's the best we can all hope for.

Because the world is a harsh place. 

But instead of seeing it, and everyone in it as the enemy and yourself as somehow better, I like to think that people like the six percent, live their life seeing the world the way it's meant to be seen.

Looking everywhere they see with rose-colored glasses.

Everywhere, except the mirror. 

Seeing themselves in the mix, instead of above it.

The very thing that makes them different, the six percent, is believing that they are not.

Noble.

And freeing, living like that.