Erika Napoletano is Redhead Writing

No settling...Wind-up and let it fly.

Sit down.

No, I’m not going to kick you in the nuts, though it might feel that way in a second.

What the hell are you doing?

It’s a new year and you’re sitting there dicking around with the same shit that didn’t work last year. People, relationships, business “strategies,” bullshit MLM schemes, cat litter that doesn’t “trap odor” worth a fuck…

Life is fleeting, so why are you giving Mediocrity the reacharound? Mediocrity is anything but fondle-worthy. It’s a prick little kid in the school yard that stole your kickass superhero lunchbox with stickers all over it. It’s the twat cheerleader who pointed and laughed because your shoes weren’t Keds. Mediocrity is a thief of your time, self-esteem, energy and inherent value.

Look around you – I’ll bet that there isn’t a single one of you who hasn’t lost someone or known someone who’s lost someone in the past year. That life is gone, left to be lived through the hearts and minds of friends, family and loved ones. They have no tomorrow. They don’t even have a today. So why are YOU fucking off with the one life you have?

Mediocrity is a give-up. It’s like telling yourself and everyone around you that you’re fine with being a sloth and you’ve got another life hanging in your closet to live when this one has a few holes in it. Seriously? I want to go through your closet, because for all the shoes and shit I’ve got lined-up in there by color, size and style (a little OCD), I’m pretty bleeping confident that if I get hit by a bus, I’m am straight-shit out of luck. End of story, no more adventures and there’s a world out there that won’t have me clawing at it in an effort to get everything I can before my big bus comes along.

It’s January 2010, prime go-time for winding-up a leg and giving mediocrity a swift kick to the nads. It’s not even unkind – it’s the smartest, most compassionate thing you can do for yourself and anyone in your life.

There are three reasons in life to dos something (and three reasons only):

• Because you aspire to be the best you can possibly be
• Because you love how you feel when you do it
• Because the people you love need what you have to give

None of that can be achieved when you’ve got one (or both) of your hands down Mediocrity’s pants.

Wouldn’t it be a beautiful place in life to be if all three of those things ruled your day-to-day? The next time you enter a room, look around at the people in it. How many are going through the motions and doing the minimum to get from dawn to dusk? Are YOU one of those people?

I owe this post to Margo Talbot, a shining light in any room she enters. I had a few minutes to sit down with her last weekend, and she’s the inspiration for telling all of you to kick Mediocrity in the nuts. It’s a gift to be in the presence of someone who doesn’t tolerate and lives each day as an adventure, the expedition of their dreams and surrounds themselves with only those who are committed to the same path. I’ve taken inventory – I’m doing some shedding. It’s incredible to see how much brighter the sunlight becomes when you get the shit out of your eyes.

Take inventory. Wind-up a leg. Get to kickin’. Imagine what you can make room for in your life when mediocrity (which no longer deserves a capital “M”) is writhing on the ground like the punk bitch it is. And if you happen to see Kumbayah, kcik it in the ‘nads, too. I fucking hate Kumbayah.