Why we need to stop chasing the more “Extraordinary”
Do We Need More Things, Or do we need to have more intimacy with life ?
Do we need the More, or do we need to live our enough-ness right now ?
I was always afraid to be ordinary, to even have what the others have.
I wanted big success, big career, big love, big adventures and thrills.
I secretly believed that I had a dull life (Still have moments of this feeling) and would end up settling and die as a dull boring person.
I was constantly looking for - this exhilaration of being alive.
I believed If I had worked hard enough, chased more, my life would be worthwhile and I would finally be allowed to stop, to be.
I had this belief that if I stopped pushing, success would escape me and I would fall back. I even had this imaginary "witch self" that haunts me with a stick whenever I slacked or slowed down.
What I came to realize is that running hard after the more-an extraordinary life turns out to be chasing a lie.
What no one tells you about how to live an extraordinary life is that the realest extraordinary is always found in the — Ordinary.
Yes! The extra everyone's looking for is found in the-ordinary.
Into Thin Air, Jon Kraukauer writes that when he reached the top of Mt. Everest, he realized (this is a paraphrase) it was just a square piece of earth with colored flags flapping in the wind. He stopped there for a few minutes and then, exhausted and depleted from climbing 57 hours, he immediately began the descent. After he returned home, he said that what he most appreciated was “being able to get up in the middle of the night, barefoot, and walk to the bathroom.”
On my path chasing the extraordinary—as something I dunno even what it means but something that feels exceptional, marvelous, incredible, outstanding, special, unique ….
I crossed many ordinary and unordinary scenes and trails all derailed to this truth
By "trying" to have, and then keep up the life I dreamed about, I was missing the life I already had.
This extra big thing I was looking for, you know, it's found in the ordinary.
The ordinary becomes the extraordinary, when the eyes see the extra magic right here.
The Extraordinary exists in this moment.
Taking a shower after a long trip- writing when an idea crosses your mind,a sip of hot coffee walking barefoot, a bite of delicious swirl cinnamon bread (yummy), feeling sun rays on your skin , walking through the trees-gazing at the full moon _ reading a piece of poetry-watching stars in the desert _ biking and feeling the wind on your skin. It is an extraordinary moment when you meet eyes with a stranger, when you are soothed by the sound of rain while you are falling asleep.
Here are some steps that have guided me to glorify and embrace what is here—the ordinary:
Pay attention. Become aware of the loveliness in your life right now.
Slow down.
Be Astonished. Notice the abundance, the little things in your world, and what you already have. Notice every moment of awe and gratitude
Be-aware of Language. Our language shapes us. Trade in those worn out phrases with “Yeah, I’m wowed… Yeah, It’s amazing" — so that the eyes hear what they could look for right here.
Act like a tourist. Be amazed, surprised and wowed .
Make a journal. Write down all the things you already have , love and appreciate. keep writing.
Living as if. Be extraordinary, Love and Be the person you are( a daily moment of awareness )