Do you consider yourself Extraordinary?
Ordinary is really Extraordinary
The basis of some of my writing has been on the thought of being ordinary. This originally came from my belief that I was not special. When you live many years without experiencing as many highs as those around you, the message in your brain signals the fact that you are living an average life. My height, weight, grades, feelings and activities didn’t seem to eclipse anyone else’s. I participated in life. I led groups when necessary but didn’t go out of my way to be the leader. Things just happened. This is not atypical of many lives. We roll on through from year to year. It took me a long time to realize how extraordinary that fact was. The meaning of ordinary took a big turn. Most of us are ordinarily extraordinary and don’t realize it.
Why Transform
This might have been a better topic to start the year of transformation with. But I think it resonates much better now. If you have attempted or even dabbled in the last few weeks at thinking differently about absorbing the beginning of changing, some new thoughts may have appeared in your self-talk, or you may have tried out a few ways to loosen up the old to make room for the new. But you may not yet know why this is happening. If life was just humming along, there was no critical need to start anything over. Even if you felt upended by life through a huge event, change appears immediate but when you get down to the daily stuff, even then reaction occurs gradually. Our social systems are set up to make most of life pretty comfortable right up to the point of throwing you out on the streets. So why are you thinking about what you really want at this point? Didn’t you have it before?
Late to the Party
I have thought of myself on many occasions as a late bloomer. I had older siblings to watch get out of the nest, I was young entering the workforce and was surrounded by good and bad mentors and was given a lot of responsibility based solely on the fact that I was competent in performance. It took a hot minute to see that I could do a lot more with what I was provided. I was busy in my mind surviving some childhood trauma or dealing with raising a family or trying to figure out why I was married. Self-improvement started winking at me a long time ago and I engaged in it on the sidelines. You have been busy also. Life fills up with stuff to do. School, work, families, friends and the material world jump up and down around us to get attention. It is easy to notice what it needs when it is in our face. We are taught that these are the parts of our lives that we are responsible for and should be attentive toward. We can’t see ourselves though, so what we personally need comes up briefly before we fall asleep, when we stare blankly at the produce in the grocery or on dreary days when driving in the rain. Our why gets ignored and sulks away. It is a teenager using the only defense it has.
So Why
This might start out at as “just because.” This childish answer that parents love to throw around is so spectacularly correct. Just because is the ordinary basis of everything. That sentence doesn’t need anything more. Try and see if you can use it more often and watch the results. Hysterical. But when you start with the foundational reason, the rest of the identifying thoughts have a chance to be heard. All of the other whys you can think of can sit on top of just because. It is common to think that it is a timing issue. If life has kept you busy, you can’t find time for you. You may have been storing some thoughts about yourself all this time, but they weren’t as important as what you were almost neglecting at that moment. It’s time to unlock the storage unit and see what gems were hidden away. There is no need to hurry. A year will do. Let your whys creep up on you. Let them add up until they threaten to topple over to get your attention. Or better yet just let them in. The reason for transforming you or your life are all yours. They don’t require definition. Isn’t that an amazing thought.
Facts: Finding out why you are wanting more you will show you the road to fulfillment. Being your ordinarily extraordinary self is your real purpose. You are meant to change.
