Glancing social media we will notice quickly our mediocrity in the face of everyone’s great accomplishments.

The importance of mediocrity is realizing and embracing the fact that you have talents I don’t have, and I have talents you don’t want! 

I spent 3 days recently trying to fix an issue in our bathroom as the basement flooded from our tub.

After losing 3 days and not succeeding, I called my friend who is a fix anything kind of guy.  The job was done in less than 3 hours.  I sat in stunned silence as I kicked myself for not having reached out to him sooner.

I know what I should do, but don’t always do it.  Often that means not doing a lot of things for which I’m mediocre.

Acknowledging our mediocrity isn’t an excuse to never improve, rather it’s a license to freedom as we reach across the void of inability to allow others to shine as they can best.  

As my friend fixed the tub, patched the ceiling, and masterfully displayed his gifts of construction, I made him laugh with stories and the time passed quickly.

I tell stories, make others laugh, cheer others on, play the piano, and can fill a cup really fast with water for the person in my home helping me out.  I guess that’s what I’ve got.  In terms of helpfulness, cheerleading, and willingness to serve, I am far from mediocre, and those traits have gotten me far.

This week I am slated to talk in Church.  I should do this extremely well without much worry.  I will prepare and give it a good shot, as always.

Yet there are others who will be speaking and find themselves suffering every minute for this entire week, the dread they face before their 10 minutes on stage enough to send them into every form of self-doubt and terror.  They have to face this moment within their own perceived mediocrity and go for it – I can’t speak for them – but I can cheer them on knowing they’re doing their best.

It’s the same feeling I have when my wife asks, “Honey, can you hang this picture on the wall?”  I know, without a doubt, someone may die if they walk under that picture someday.  Yet, I will hang the picture just to face my own fears and be mediocre doing so, and that’s ok.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t watched many videos on YouTube to learn how to hang a picture, or fix a tub, or learn something new and step out of my mediocrity.  I am a work in progress, and promise myself constantly to allow others to do their Signature Moves, such as having my assistant do tasks I know I can do in 20 minutes that she can do in 2.

There’s an importance in mediocrity.  My promise is to continue to get better at what I’m not good at, and share what I’m best at as often as possible.

Don Shula was arguably the greatest head coach in NFL history. He was also one of my very closest friends for many decades.

Recently I was reminded of a conversation that took place between former Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese during one of their monthly lunches where they would get together, eat, tell bad jokes, reminisce, and watch the horses at Gulfstream Park.

During this lunch, they started talking about a play in their first Super Bowl together, a loss against Dallas, where Griese was under such defensive pressure he ran backward to elude it. And backward. Something Coach Shula was wont to refer to as ‘minus-29 yards.

And this is where I come into the conversation. As it was recounted to me, Griese pulled out a letter from me dated August 17, 2004. I officiated that game and also did the coin toss. I confirmed that Griese was chased by three Cowboys on that play while Shula always insisted that it was just one.

Famously, my friend poked fun at me by saying “You know Tunney was voted the second-best of 200-and-something officials, right? All the others tied for first.”

He was my friend and colleague for over 30 years. I miss him every single day.

How will you honor the people who left such an impact on your life and those of others?

Keira Ingram is the Real Estate Queenpin, she "Makes Real Estate Bosses". Her personal and business mission is to increase real estate education and ownership in black, brown, and underserved communities. With this mission she has been able to help many people build generational wealth and break generational curses using the power of real estate. Keira is a Multi-state Real Estate Broker, coach, and

Miriam Valere never expected to fulfill a life-long dream of writing a book when she adopted two corgis in the fall of 2015. But when one of the dogs showed symptoms of the genetic disease degenerative myelopathy, she found herself immersed in learning how to care for a dog that was slowly becoming paralyzed. She documented the journey with photographs that she posted on Facebook to educate people about the effects of this disease, and the challenges she faced.

Her book, Another New Normal: Coping and caring for a dog with a degenerative condition is the culmination of what she learned during her time caring for her disabled dog.

Miriam lives in Utah with two rescue dogs, Zeek and Cody, and five rescue cats. You can frequently find her out exploring the beauty of the natural world with her dogs, gardening, and being kind.