Accept No Mediocre Life

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 13 DEC 2004

Foster, a pastor and radio talk show host, writes a pep talk for "those who refuse to accept mediocre as the standard by which they live their lives." To break out of the everyday rut, Foster asks for four commitments: excel at being who you are (each person is unique), where you are ("perfect conditions do not exist"), with what you have, while you can. Behind this is the premise that "doing our best glorifies God, not ourselves." Unfortunately, the book is much longer than it needs to be because of an overabundance of quotations (in one three-page sequence, Foster quotes Ann Landers, Norman Vincent Peale, Will Rogers, Mel Brooks, Shakespeare and Emerson) and shopworn illustrations including chestnuts about the wheelbarrow trip over Niagara Falls and boiling a frog. However, nice thoughts are wedged within the filler, such as the slogan "God created you a victor, not a victim." The chapter on developing a sustainable pace for life effectively uses an acrostic on "stamina" to teach the value of trusting God, cultivating patience and developing a network of good friends. And Foster forcefully encourages a mindset of seizing everyday opportunities to help others and improve oneself. Though this guide would have been more effective without recycling so many illustrations, it contains flashes of insight on achieving excellence.