The Ordinary is Extraordinary

The ordinary is extraordinary from a new perspective.

Last week I got a chance to attend the Lifeworks organization annual banquet dinner, that celebrates the Lifeworks company which serves individuals with disabilities, helping them find employment, teaching them daily life skills and offering art, theater and music classes. That night Lifeworks celebrated their 50th year of service! The night involved multiple presentations from participants, volunteers and staff who have been positively affected by Lifeworks over the past 50 years.  Everything was great and inspiring, until I read the title of an upcoming video presentation entitled, "It's a Wonderful, Ordinary Life".

The word "Ordinary", to me, was an insult. Why would anyone want to call themselves ordinary or live an ordinary life? It is actually defined as "with no special or distinctive features; normal". To me it was equal to boring, uninteresting, lame and yes, normal. ...BUT then I watched the video.

The video was about a Lifeworks participant who, despite his mental disability, held a job, traveled around the world, met the love of his life, proposed and married her. They were happily married and lived together for years before he passed away. To him, this was the ORDINARY life that he had always dreamed of and he had achieved it.

When you spend your life not fitting into the ordinary, you strive for ordinary.

People that strive for ordinary face real difficulties. Mobility concerns-getting safely from one place to another whether you are blind, in a wheelchair or some other form of physical impairment.  Worrying that someone will take advantage of you because you are a "vulnerable adult". Being judged as not smart enough. Being non verbal and trying to communicate with the rest of the world. Or being labeled as your disability rather than who you are as a person.  These people striving to be ordinary don't give up, they keep going despite the challenges they face, which is pretty f*cking extraordinary.

The ordinary is extraordinary with  new knowledge.

To my 2 year old daughter pretty much everything is extraordinary. From my bathtub's faucet leak slowly drip, drip, dripping down into the drain to the silky feel of a flower's petals between her little fingers to the sight of the moon that she can't turn away from.

What if we could keep that same awe feeling, as adults? Be amazed every time it rains. Be in awe of a flower's colorful, silky petals. Be astonished by how a light switch makes the room shine.

I think we can! What is the difference between a toddlers astonishment and our indifference to the same flower? We've seen flowers thousands of times, we know what they are, how they grow, etc. To a toddler, it's brand new, they have little knowledge of what a flower is.

We take for granted what was once extraordinary and new to us. Like the start of a new relationship, at first everything is new and exciting, but as experiences are repeated we get bored. what was once extraordinary now seems ordinary or stale. How do couples together for 20 years keep things extraordinary? They continually search for new knowledge, new perspectives, new experiences with their partners.

With new knowledge, we can count the number of petals on a flower and be in awe. Most likely we will come up with 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, or 55 petals, which is the Fibonacci sequence! (where each number is the sum of the two previous numbers) The Fibonacci sequence shows up in all kinds of places in nature, in galaxies in the proportions of our faces, in our DNA, it's our universe's own password to unlocking the beauty and life in the world. And that is also pretty f*cking extrordinary.

You have the power to turn ordinary into extraordinary with intent. 

Now that you're seeing the extraordinary in individuals, those magical mathematical flower petals , that annoying leaky faucet, and being in awe of the moon,  How do YOU become more extraordinary than you already are?

Author and speaker Mark Sanborn says the key is intent. And the awesome news is that you can start right now!

"Everybody makes a difference. The question is, what kind of difference do we make?" Mark says. We can go through life with no special or distinctive features, and if we choose to do so, people typically will view us as indifferent. OR we can choose to be extraordinary. We can be intentional about what we can do to make a positive difference for others daily. 

We all have the wonderful opportunity to transform the ordinary into extraordinary. Your intent on taking the time to talk to a stranger or someone different from you has the ability to transform their day. Your intent on giving someone you love encouraging words can transform their world. You have the power to make the world extraordinary! Again, that is extremely f*cking extraordinary.

So ...next time you're feeling boring, lame or normal, remember: PERSPECTIVE- some people dream of your boring life, KNOWLEDGE- count those petals on the next flower you see and be amazed by nature's magical mathematical equation, and INTENT- make it your mission to positively transform someone's ordinary day into the extraordinary. 

With lots of extraordinary love, to the moon and back,  

-Katey

"Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives.Such striving may seem admirable,but it is a way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples, and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself." - William Martin

 * artwork done by Curtis Engler, Lifeworks participant.