Mediocrity is something I have struggled with most of my life. It is something that has created many missed opportunities and immeasurable heart ache for me and my family.
Recently, a good friend approached me and asked if I would accept a guest on this blog. This is something I would not do lightly. But Colonel Paul Longgrear, US Army retired, is a man who shares my heart for the fathers of this age.
Paul is a true American hero and I recently had the honor of attending his induction into the Army Ranger Hall of Fame. His story is an extraordinary one and one Google search will show you why I enthusiastically said yes to Colonel Paul’s inquiry.
Please read his words and insights closely. He is a man I have personally learned a great deal from.
En servicio como Padre
Dave
MEDIOCRITY – Paul Longgrear
Years ago our family lived in a county with two school systems. The two high schools were only four or five hundred yards apart and from the start were arch rivals even though one was only nine years old.
The older school dominated the younger school all nine times they played in football. The old school played for the state championship three times and won one of them. At one point they racked up a 29-1 record and won seven region titles. They excelled at football and the newer school was only mediocre.
In spiritual parlance we might consider the word coined by Jesus, “lukewarm”. If one is not going to do his best at something, he might want to not attempt it in the first place. Does this mean mediocrity is bad? Is striving for excellence always good?
If one has to revert to the flesh to achieve excellence; excellence would probably be bad.
Is it better to be a sluggard or turn to sin to win?
Behavioral performance can be based on genetic influence or it can be learned through environment. If a man is born into a family of over achievers, he will be influenced just by being a member of that family. On the other hand if that same person is born into a family of under motivated members he again will be influenced by that environment. He may flow with the character of the family or he may defy the norm and be just the opposite in either case he is influenced by that environment.
Whatever the influence or cause, excellence is refusing to settle for less that one’s best. Mediocrity, on the other hand, is settling for the minimum that will suffice. “If the deadline is 3:00 P.M. why get it completed earlier”, the sluggard might ask.
When I decided to leave my home state of Arkansas to seek my fortune, I followed Horace Greely’s advice and went west to California. Within a matter of days I had a job at a large Los Angeles area lumber yard. Because I had a couple of years of college, the boss put me in charge of the stall that contained small lumber and ply wood.
He assured me it was a mess and challenged me to try and get it straightened out within a couple of weeks, if possible. I had two summers of experience in the lumber yard business and within three days had everything in order. Why did I do that? My mother raised me to work hard and she was the hardest working person I knew. Hard work was not an option in our family, it was the expected.
My wife and I raised three children who were all very good workers and have done very well for themselves. I was always a poor performing student because I was academically lazy. As a result, I was determined my children wouldn’t be.
Our oldest child was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, the second child never had to crack a book in school and the third labored to meet his, self-imposed, classroom goals. I am honored to say that all three are college graduates and one has a doctorate in education. The one with the learning disability was assured that she was as smart as her brothers and the same results would be expected of her.
Which of them do you think has the doctor’s degree? The laborer, he refused to be mediocre.
We had the same standards for each of them; do your best! I learned as a child that too much pressure to perform could cause a student to cheat. Life taught me, excellence can never be achieved by lowering moral standards.
There are no shortcuts to excellence. Diligence and determination mixed with perseverance are the ingredients necessary to fulfill what God has placed in all of us. It should also be noted that talent will not assure excellence. If very talented people accept less than their best for themselves, they are mediocre.
Remember the schools we mentioned at first. The difference was attitude. When the two schools walked on the football field it was obvious which team thought they would win and which team only hoped they would win. The coaches convinced the first team they were going to win every game because they were prepared to win through work and preparation. During the week they practiced smart, hard and long.
Leadership is the key to creating an environment of excellence and overcoming mediocrity. Whether one is a manager, a coach, the parents of children, or commander of a military unit, leadership is the key.
Leadership is nothing more than motivating someone to do what they are supposed to do. How well they do it is determined by how motivated they are.
There are only two ways to motivate; inspiration or intimidation. Think about by which of these ways you are motivated. Now think about how you motivate those around you.
We will discuss this in the near future.
When I was a very small child my oldest sister Fern, as I recall, brought home a cat. This cat was a grey brindle with four white feet and a very pink nose. Based on what she saw, my sister named this cute little kitten Pinky.
dogs, coyotes, snakes, and just about every other animal the Arizona desert presented him.
Pinky’s life was in conflict with how my sister envisioned he would be. He was wild at heart, but somehow my sister came to accept that. She accepted him when he returned, nursed his wounds, cuddled with him, loved him, wept and prayed for him when he walked back off into his world.
They seem to have a very limited view of the world, in many cases they have a negative view of people outside their general area, especially those from outside their geographical region.
that he no longer was aware of how he was conducting his business. His life entered into a form of monotony. He came to the point that he could not make a decision for himself. When his prophets no longer could advise him and Samuel was dead, he turned to a familiar spirit to come up with answers.
e good and some evil.
because, among other things, he has been told he doesn’t have a brain. After all scarecrows are stuffed with straw, not brains. This belief is further supported by the bad decisions he has made along his journey to find the Wizard.
How many times along your journey have you been doused with water. Without someone to “oil your joints”, you are soon paralyzed and of no use to anyone. Without the anointing of this oil, the oil of the Holy Spirit, you would slowly rust away, never having accomplished the purpose for which God created you.
that it has kept him from being the true king he is supposed to be.
the group cowers trying to figure out what to do next, Toto, pulls back a curtain and exposes a man speaking into a microphone and pulling levers and pushing buttons.
I have watched over my lifetime as men and women who, in my eyes, seemed to be making a greater difference in their lives, have met sometimes tragic circumstances and were taken off this earth.
our culture that we need to accomplish, or experience things in this way. We tolerate all the discomfort because it’s just supposed to be that way. King David once felt that way, he was overcome with his own weakness and his seeming inability to recognize trouble until it arrived on his doorstep. In Psalm 4:1-2 he says:
God’s Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it, Who breathes life into earth’s people, makes them alive with his own life: “I am God. I have called you to live right and well. I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe. I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations, To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light: opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners from dungeons, emptying the dark prisons. I am God. That’s my name. I don’t franchise my glory, don’t endorse the no-god idols. Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled. I’m announcing the new salvation work. Before it bursts on the scene, I’m telling you all about it.” Isaiah 42:5 (The Message)
advertisements and thus get their brand name in front of people around the world.
often are wearing a Nike shirt, a Los Angeles Dodgers hat, or some other brand name which has become a symbol of success or affluence. Even in the scenes from the poorest of nations, Haiti, Sudan, Afghanistan for example, people manage to grab hold of a brand.
they will spend huge sums, often sums they don’t have, to acquire merchandise of a particular brand.
United States. Certainly an act of love.
somehow involving a golf club and a broken car window, his life unraveled squarely in the public eye. Mistress after mistress came forward with stories of infidelity and deception. I can only imagine the impact on his children and his wife.
Billy Graham, one of the most recognized names in the world. He is known for his ministry that is credited with immeasurable numbers of people who have come to a relationship with Jesus Christ. He has been the “pastor of presidents”, the author of books, and the voice to the nations. All that being said, his role as a father doesn’t come to mind when his name is uttered in most circles.









