4. When Being Above Average Becomes Exhausting

There’s an invisible race that pushes us to be more than we are.
Smarter. Stronger. More capable. More experienced.
And as we grow in that direction, we don’t notice how far we drift from ourselves.
Because in the pursuit of “more,” we often lose what was — enough.

We start to speak from knowledge, instead of feeling.
To analyze, instead of get confused.
To interpret others — while forgetting to listen to ourselves.

Sometimes it looks like confidence.
And sometimes it’s just fear — fear of seeming ordinary.
And sometimes, when something touches us, we rush to explain it.
To translate it into something familiar.
Maybe even to offer advice — in an attempt to tame it.
Because the ungraspable can feel uncomfortable.
But real emotions don’t always ask to be solved — just to be met.

That’s why it might feel unusual when a man’s hand offers a text
that doesn’t explain — but pauses.
That doesn’t claim to be right — but aims to be honest.
That doesn’t impose meaning — but offers silence.

Because in a world that celebrates above-averageness, vulnerability looks like weakness.
But the truth is — the deepest encounters don’t happen at the top.
They happen where we dare to be quiet. Uncertain. Unshielded.

Maybe that’s why what earns us the most applause
is exactly what exhausts us the most.
And what gives us the most rest
is what asks nothing more
than for us to be exactly who we already are.