“When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life, I see so much magic, though I missed it at that time!”
Jamie Cullum.
When you think about all those past memories of childhood, school, and college, though at the time they looked quite ordinary, now they feel different and special.
Yet we don’t want to be ordinary, we’re pushed by society, social media, our surroundings to become extraordinary. Because the assumption is, no one is leading an ordinary life. The gadgets, the holidays, the food, the relationships, the career success all seems so extraordinary.
Pressure to Be Extraordinary
Society is pushing us toward more, something better, and there is never enough. Hundreds of online articles teach us how to stand out, how to be extraordinary. Being ordinary is not cool. No matter what, your worth is justified when you have become better, faster and stronger.
There is nothing wrong in striving to become extraordinary, but let it be a choice. We can’t be extraordinary in everything we turn our hands to, and the extraordinary comes with a price and many sacrifices.
One famous Indian cricketer, when retiring, apologized to his kids for missing the experience of their first tooth, parent-teacher meetings, their sports accomplishments, and not being by their side when they needed him most. He also apologized to his family for missing many festivals and weddings, and not being there when they were grappling with some serious illnesses.
Appreciating the Ordinary
Have you ever been mobbed, chased, and talked about by the media? Maybe you want to be. But maybe instead we should value and celebrate the ordinary. Because it means that you can engage in any activity without being bothered by the public!
Where does this idea of having to be extraordinary come from? Is it ego, peer pressure, or the race to happiness?
Please Join Us!
What: #MTtalk
Where: Twitter
When: January 28, @1pm ET (6pm GMT / 11:30pm IST)
Topic: Celebrating the Ordinary
Host: @Mind_Tools
Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
The ego always wants to be special, different, and of great value. Ego wants constant validation from others.
But life is hidden in its ordinariness. To do something ordinarily is the most extraordinary thing in life. For instance, think about the time you were confined to the bed after an illness, and walked for the first time after three months. That walk seemed extraordinary. Such reminders are good to experience the extraordinary in ordinary activities.
I remember when I was a child my parents put me in different hobby classes because every summer I used to get curious about something else! One neighbor was really concerned and worried. She told my parents, that this way I’d never become an extraordinary Kathak dancer (an Indian style of dance). My father replied that it was okay, because being exposed to all forms of music, meant I’d appreciate and enjoy more!
Judging the Ordinary
People often make judgments about others’ ordinariness as well. Often it’s things like, “she has ordinary looks.” Or, “he comes from an ordinary background,” or “their holidays are quite ordinary.” And finally, “this thought is so ordinary!”
By the way, people making these kinds of comment surely have nothing extraordinary to focus on in their life!
I don’t want to take any side, but the race we are in to become extraordinary pushes me to give another perspective. Think about it: being ordinary, in any area, makes us grounded, humble, and in awe of that person who does it well. I think my team member is extraordinary in this, and it reminds me that, although I’m his manager, I have a greater dependency on him.
And to end on a philosophical note, ordinary or extraordinary, we all are destined to one end – a beautiful end – death.
Celebrating the Ordinary
During the #MTtalk Twitter chat this week we’re going to discuss celebrating the ordinary.
In our Twitter poll this week, we wanted to know which ordinary thing or small step will have the biggest impact on your process of rebooting in 2022. Thirty-five percent of participants voted for tiny bits of learning, while only fourteen percent voted for going to bed on time. To see all the options and results, please click here.
We’d love you to participate in the chat, and the following questions may spark some thoughts in preparation for it:
- What’s there to celebrate about being ordinary/doing ordinary things?
- Does ordinary mean unambitious? Yes, or no? Why?
- Do you remember when you were first being pushed to be extraordinary? What happened?
- How does the thought of having to be extraordinary all the time make you feel/react?
- What do we notice when someone is doing the ordinary consistently well?
- What ordinary actions that give you pleasure/make you feel accomplished will you do more of?
Resources
To help you prepare for the chat, we’ve compiled a list of resources for you to browse. (Note that you will need to be a Mind Tools Club or Corporate member to see all of the resources in full.)
How to Join Our #MTtalk Chat
Follow us on Twitter to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the action this Friday! We’ll be tweeting out 10 questions during our hour-long chat.
To participate in the chat, type #MTtalk in the Twitter search function. Then, click on “Latest” and you’ll be able to follow the live chat feed. You can join the chat by using the hashtag #MTtalk in your responses.
The post Celebrating the Ordinary – Join Our #MTtalk appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
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