Everybody's not Martin Luther King

I think I've finally made some peace with the question of people and their shortcomings.

Everyone has capacity for greatness. Everyone could be a Buddha or a Jesus or a Mohatma Gandhi or a Martin Luther King. But most people don't make that choice. Most people aren't Mohatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King.

George Bush and Hillary Clinton are just George Bush and Hillary Clinton. Which should make it easier, not harder, to call them on their bullshit, because they're no fuckin' saints. Me either. Jesus and Buddha and Gandhi and King don't even live up to their public images. How in the hell would we expect that political leaders, who aren't even playing in their leagues, should be trusted with so much goddamn power?

King and Gandhi and Jesus and Buddha were just people, too, just like you and me. Just people a little more aware of their capacity to do great things than most people. And they accomplished them.

The higher we hold that standard, the more we'll live up to it, I think. And perhaps surpass it, if we play our cards right.

But because most of us hold our expectations for ourselves and one another so low, we live down to that standard, instead, much of the time.

That's why I hold a higher standard. For myself and others.

Because the higher we hold that standard, without putting any pressure on it or ourselves, that is, the closer we are likely to get to it. And the more we are likely to inspire the same from those around us.

That's important to me as I look for someone to spend my life with and as I think about being a great dad to my kids.

I don't want to put too much pressure on me or them. But that's because I want us to step up to the biggest challenges and face them more thoughtfully and effectively together, not live down to a lower standard for ourselves.

Everybody's not Martin Luther King. And maybe if we gave them some space, they might be better. You never know. And we'll definitely never know if we're constantly trying to pressure them to live down to our minimal standard rather than live up to their best potential.

And that's the level at which I, for one, would rather be playing.

Love,
Ben