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The Benefit of Being Bad
Finding happiness in mediocrity
I am not good at a lot of things. Some things I’m downright bad at. I like singing in choirs because it means you don’t hear my voice alone, and I laugh about my lack of fine motor skills because it is kind of embarrassing to take a literal minute to tie my shoelaces.
Over time, I’ve come to really appreciate doing the things I’m bad at. Why? Because when I’m bad there’s zero pressure.
Allowing yourself to acknowledge that you’re not really any good at something lets you enjoy it without feeling any need to develop it beyond something that’s just fun. It’s a fact of modern life that as soon as you’re good at something, there’s generally a degree of internal or external pressure to make it a career, a side hustle, the thing that makes you famous. But the things you’re bad at? They’re devoid of that pressure.
Obviously we’re not talking about things like being a bad driver which makes you a danger to other people. But if you’re a pretty bad painter you’re free to dabble away without any thoughts of potential sales or commissions or exhibitions. You’re just painting because it’s fun.
Of course, you can be good at something and not feel pressure to make it into a living, and you also tend to get better at the things you’re bad at with time. But sometimes it’s just so relaxing to sit back, enjoy the ride, and do things that you suck at just because you enjoy it.
After all, the only bad thing about being bad at things is if you let it hold you back.
