Your world—your life—is both ordinary and extraordinary.
And it needs to be both.
Does that feel like a contradiction in terms?
The better we orchestrate both these facets, the closer we get to the core of what we deeply aspire to and yearn for in our years here on this planet.
The ordinariness is the routine and the obligations of daily living. It’s paying your bills, doing your job, brushing your teeth. It’s your calendar. It’s your clock. It’s your plans. It’s the order and certainty we love and expect.
These are the things that give your life a framework and structure. Yes, the details vary but in general, you do them to survive, build a stable foundation and function in society. While they may be boring at times, they make your world go round.
And you need them. You rely on them. You also rely on others doing the same. Because when we do this, the world keeps pace with itself. Teachers teach kids, pilots fly planes and surgeons perform surgery.
Then there are those things in your world that are extraordinary. They are invisible and abstract, but we know them by feel. Reflection. Creativity. Understanding. Intention.
These are intangible forces. They cannot be measured or regulated, nor scheduled during working hours. And yet, they require extraordinary energy, concentration and loyalty, and are absolutely essential to our human experience.
It is these things that move our world—our life—forward.
Maybe you’re struggling in a relationship, dealing with massive change, or facing seemingly impossible obstacles at work, and your world is falling apart. Maybe what you believed in all your life, about yourself, about others, is being challenged.
You might be overwhelmed. You might panic. You might react by getting defensive or angry or digging your heels even deeper. You might flounder, scared and unsure about how to move forward or what to do. It’s the chaos and uncertainty we dislike, fear and avoid.
Without understanding your fears, or the intention to move through them, you are bound to repeat your past mistakes, or let negativity fester.
Understanding, reflection and creativity lead to growth, something we are wired to do.
You need both the ordinary and the extraordinary. While they may have different aims, they do have something in common: they both require taking responsibility.
The ordinary—the routine, the daily tasks and habits—keep your outer life stable and functioning, providing stability in your home, career, finances and relationships. It’s a lot harder if you lose your job when you have no savings than if you have an emergency fund socked away. It might be tedious to pore over spreadsheets or statements on a regular basis, but building a foundation is rarely glamorous nor without sacrifice.
The extraordinary adds depth and meaning. It makes life better, makes it worth living, and makes your world go forward. It does so by testing your foundation to see not just if it’s solid, but if it’s the right kind of foundation.
A flimsy foundation built upon lies or stacked on the backs of the ones you crushed can crumble in an instant when the ground shakes.
The right kind of foundation, build on preparedness and with the right intention, will still remain standing.
When the ordinary and the extraordinary—the mundane and the eternal—come together, you feel the fullness of life—with your feet firmly on the ground, your responsibility in hand and your truth pulsing inside. This is how you make your world go round, and move your life forward.
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