Yeah, it's Tim Henman syndrome in that people think that unless you're the very top, it's not enough.

But actually, he was the top. He was the best tennis player in the whole of the UK. Imagine how proud your parents are.

But actually, oh, he's not top of the world. What next? He's not top of the solar system or the galaxy or whatever. That manifests in many different ways. I always say, there's a similar thing actually that the Star Wars song that had Anakin Skywalker in that little kid must have been so tough. Phantom of the Menace. Phantom of the Menace. When he got that job, his parents would be so proud he'd beat all the other kids. You know, all the parents are so jealous of me now. You know, I mean, they might not have thought like that. But the point is he beat all the other kids off for this amazing job to be Anakin Skywalker in Phantom of the Menace.

And, you know, maybe he got to the last two, for example, and the parents for ages they

didn't know, will it be him, will it not be him?

Oh, you know, oh gosh, I really hope, I really hope it's my son.

And then it is.

And then the film comes out and then, you know know Jar Jarbinks is in the film and the

film gets a bit panned because people don't like Jar Jar Jarvis and the Jar Jar

Brinks character he you know he never got over that he went into depression in fact

Anakin Skywalk the actor as well the flip side of the sort of adulation being put on

the pedestal is the depression and turning to drugs and all the pedestal and being the top is the depression and turning

to drugs and all of the stuff. And, you know, who are the parents that are then laughing? You know,

because actually all you want is for your kid to be happy. And sometimes we're always just

striving for the top and we don't realise and, you know, we have said it in this podcast,

but actually it's sometimes better to be in the middle because actually that's what I always say I'd rather

be in the middle and in the middle you can reach out below and hold hands and

you can reach out above and hold hands and bring people in together and in the

middle you know there's less to fall you know less far to fall because you're not

at the top and you're not at the bottom just, you know, thinking, I wish that I could have a bit more. It's just brilliant. You know, there's a lot to be said for mediocre. Yes. And that's where you're truly happy, I believe. Yeah, look, look, I think that's absolutely right. But there's a really interesting video done by Alan de Botton on this.

He said that we're now a civilization of snobs, not in the way of kings and queens and back when royalty was fated in that way, but more in terms of, okay, what do you do?

A normal life in which you have three meals, a roof over your head, you're able to go and see friends and do these kind of things.

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