My Turn: When mediocrity is quite good enough

I have had a reasonably successful professional career, working in the service of others, something I can take pride in. But as I have migrated to the "retirement" phase of my life, I get to explore passions I had placed on the back burner. I looked forward to diving into all the things that I had deflected because of the time constraints of my job — a familiar theme.

As I gleefully delved into various silos of interest, I began to recognize a pattern. Much to my chagrin, I was greeted with a consistent level of mediocrity in almost every discipline I had chosen. The list of endeavors is long, yet, in spite of that, I am quite comfortable with, and unapologetic about my failure to progress in virtually all of them.

It started off with cooking, and all I had to show for it was burned hands and burned food — as well as 20 points added to my blood pressure because of heavy doses of salt used to disguise my culinary shortcomings.

I tried to home in on golf and tennis, and I quickly dispelled the myth that "the more you play the better you get."

I attempted to improve my aquatic skills — yet I swim as if each breath will be my last, belching up so much air that I frighten the young ones in the vicinity.

When I ski, I perform like a little old man on a Sunday drive, fearing that a fall might accelerate me toward my first total joint replacement.

I immersed myself into hot yoga only to gaze in the mirror during class to find a dripping gnarled figure staring back at me among a sea of lithe and statuesque figures of all genders.

So, I figured if I could not keep the body limber, perhaps I could do so with the mind. "Keep your mind active" is the frequent meme I have heard, so I dove into crossword puzzles, chess, escape rooms, "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" to keep the squash fresh. I show no alacrity in any of these areas and am befuddled about how slow my response time is compared to my wife and millennial kids.

Purchasing a new laptop or "smart TV" leads to night sweats and terrors as well as numerous hours waiting online for technical assistance. I have attempted magic and juggling; only to have my snarky nieces and nephews expose all the shortcomings of my prestidigitations.

This is not even mentioning all the things attempted preretirement, where I have also failed to progress in post-retirement: gardening, where I kill more than I harvest; joke-telling, ruined by stepping on the punch line too early; traveling, being directionally impaired in spite of GPS guidance — and the list apparently continues to grow.

But I must come full circle, so I don’t leave the impression that I am pained or embarrassed by my migration toward mediocrity in so many endeavors. On the contrary, I am quite comfortable with and, in fact, embrace it. I am so lucky to live a life where I can follow my curiosity and bliss wherever it takes me. In a world that aspires to and promotes perfection incessantly, I feel no need to judge my experiences by their outcomes. It is not the endpoint of my endeavors that brings me joy, it’s the pleasure of the journey itself. It allows me to rejoice in my mediocrity and that, my friends, is truly quite enough for me.

Rory Sadoff,

Massapequa