There are a lot of times in life when I just want to be the best at everything, anything, whatever comes my way. I get this feeling in my gut when someone tells me I can't do something that makes me want to be the best EVER and just go for it. This has happened with a lot of things...and I think my desire to prove myself started when I was about 12-years-old and I just never stopped. Being told that I can't do something just makes me want to be the strongest, smartest, thinnest, fastest, generally the bestest at all of it.
Unfortunately, life often gets in the way and I simply don't have the time or energy (or money) to make myself be the greatest. But maybe that's not such a bad thing after all. Maybe, just maybe, our moments of sheer ordinariness are what makes us all so special. This constant barrage from media, peers, bosses, parents, everyone telling us that we have to be the best at something (or everything) just doesn't make sense. Mostly, it doesn't make sense because it's just not possible. I'll never have the prettiest house or the fanciest car or be the smartest at math or run the fastest 10K or be able to lift a bazillion pounds or have the flattest abs. I just won't. And I think it's high time that I decide that I'm okay with that.
Because my version of "ordinary" is not the same as yours, or anyone else's. My "ordinary" makes me different. Where I am ordinary, someone else is remarkable (the bestest, even)...and the reverse is true as well. Maybe my ordinary is remarkable to someone else.
Not recognizing our own ordinary as often exceptional is discounting some of the greatest pieces of ourselves. It leads us to false expectations and crappy comparisons. It has the danger of making us feel like we're somehow not worth it because there's this one things (maybe even twelve things) we can't do. So what? I'm struggling to find a good reason not to celebrate my ordinary, frankly. I won't ever be good at math, so there's no point in me frustrating myself to try. Rather, shouldn't I focus on the fact that I'm incredibly organized and use THAT to push and motivate myself? I'll probably never be able to run a marathon, but I can jog with my dogs and enjoy the time I have with them and my music. My house won't ever be the prettiest one out there, but it's certainly a home and I can revel in filling that home with little ones and memories.
My ordinary may very well be just that. But it's MY ordinary and no one else's ordinary will ever be like mine.
Unfortunately, life often gets in the way and I simply don't have the time or energy (or money) to make myself be the greatest. But maybe that's not such a bad thing after all. Maybe, just maybe, our moments of sheer ordinariness are what makes us all so special. This constant barrage from media, peers, bosses, parents, everyone telling us that we have to be the best at something (or everything) just doesn't make sense. Mostly, it doesn't make sense because it's just not possible. I'll never have the prettiest house or the fanciest car or be the smartest at math or run the fastest 10K or be able to lift a bazillion pounds or have the flattest abs. I just won't. And I think it's high time that I decide that I'm okay with that.
Because my version of "ordinary" is not the same as yours, or anyone else's. My "ordinary" makes me different. Where I am ordinary, someone else is remarkable (the bestest, even)...and the reverse is true as well. Maybe my ordinary is remarkable to someone else.
Not recognizing our own ordinary as often exceptional is discounting some of the greatest pieces of ourselves. It leads us to false expectations and crappy comparisons. It has the danger of making us feel like we're somehow not worth it because there's this one things (maybe even twelve things) we can't do. So what? I'm struggling to find a good reason not to celebrate my ordinary, frankly. I won't ever be good at math, so there's no point in me frustrating myself to try. Rather, shouldn't I focus on the fact that I'm incredibly organized and use THAT to push and motivate myself? I'll probably never be able to run a marathon, but I can jog with my dogs and enjoy the time I have with them and my music. My house won't ever be the prettiest one out there, but it's certainly a home and I can revel in filling that home with little ones and memories.
My ordinary may very well be just that. But it's MY ordinary and no one else's ordinary will ever be like mine.
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"...our moments of sheer ordinariness are what makes us all so special...Not recognizing our own ordinary as often exceptional is discounting some of the greatest pieces of ourselves."
ReplyDeleteLove both of these lines! It's so important to love our exceptional selves just because we are who we are!
lovemaura
It's a hard lesson to learn, that's for sure! I have Ralph Waldo Emerson and Lady Gaga to thank for helping me think this one up ha!
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