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Kerry Reid

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Should we aim for mediocrity?

As children in modern day society we are all told to reach for the stars. The idea that you can be or do anything you want to...but more often than not if those dreams are at odds with convention they are branded as 'silly' or 'impracticable'.

What to do? Dream or aim for mediocrity?

Topics: Jobs happiness society
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    Marlon Jones

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    Nov 28 2012: As a father of two daughters I'm not in the doubting business. It is vitally important that they dream and not just wish. I was listening to an NPR interview with Dolly Parton and she identified the distinction between wishing and dreaming. Wishing is more imaginative but not necessarily to the point of action. Dreaming on the other hand carries with it the element of potential to acheive. While her distinction may not me definitive, I can subscribe to it. Poetry is uplifting and I stress to my daughters the following poem a portion of which follows:

    It Couldn’t Be Done By Edgar Albert Guest


    Somebody said that it couldn’t be done
    But he with a chuckle replied
    That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
    Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
    So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
    On his face. If he worried he hid it.
    He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it!

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