On Pursuing Excellence

On Pursuing Excellence

"Allow no preeminence among your subjects. Let no man live who is wiser or better or more famous or even handsomer than the mass. Cut them all down to a level: all slaves, all ciphers, all nobodies. All equals. Thus Tyrants could practice, in a sense, 'democracy.' But now 'democracy' can do the same work without any tyranny other than her own. No one need now go through the field with a cane. The little stalks will now of themselves bite the tops off the big ones. The big ones are beginning to bite off their own in their desire to Be Like Stalks."
—"Equality," C.S. Lewis, 1943

Since reading the above passage, I've worried that I’m setting myself up to be cut down. C.S. Lewis wrote the above in 1943, and in the 22 years of my life, I’ve seen many of his predictions come true. Perhaps I’ve just barely escaped the scythe going over the heads of youth, but I sometimes wonder if this blog will get me into trouble. I’m lucky that so few people read it. If I were famous, with the few resources I have... the stalks would get me, and I’d have no way to defend myself. If I suddenly disappear, the scythe has gotten to me.

That’s always the challenge: how much attention is the correct amount of attention? Too much, and I’m cut down. But how can I become excellent if I don’t practice excellence?

War has two types of people: those who fight to win the war (many of whom die) and those who don’t fight in order to rebuild after the war is over. Which one am I? Am I a fighter? Am I meant to die on the battlefield in glory? Or am I needed after the war?

Alexander Hamilton fought a lot of battles and made it farther than anyone. He had little to lose and everything to gain, so great gambles were necessary. Of course, if I gamble enough, I’ll lose eventually—it’s the law of large numbers. But what choice do I have? I’m a dreamer and an optimist, and at least I won’t bite off my own legacy. I’ll keep running as long and as hard as I can and try not to let the little stalks pull me down.

I can’t give up now
I been chasing this my whole life
And if the world’s gonna bring me down
Then I’mma get back up and fight
I can’t give up now
I got people that need me to provide
And if the world’s gonna bring me down
Then I’mma get back up and fight
—Can't Give Up, Conner Price