Extraordinary

Tonight was a beautiful sunset. The sky was literally bright pink and purple with dare I say, a hint of gold?

It was a gorgeous wrap to today. I really wish I had a picture of it. But I was driving carpool to basketball practice. Trust me, it was beautiful.

It would have been such a great backdrop to today’s blog. So imagine a beautiful sunset:)

Today’s inspiration is Michael Gervais, the wise man behind the Finding Mastery podcast series. It’s an awesome series.

The interview I was listening to on my drive home from work (this was before the quick turn to drive basketball carpool) was with Des Linden, who won the Boston Marathon in 2018. The conversations are always much deeper than any given area of expertise and today was no different.  

The statement that caught my ear during a conversation about the definition of success was really profound.

“You don’t have to do something extraordinary to be extraordinary.”

What a relief! I’ve been a bit…overwhelmed?…with the notion of how to find my extraordinariness. My success. Sometimes, the more books I read about purpose, meaning, being a warrior, girl washing my face, etc. the more confused I get. Am I doing enough with my life? Am I living out my purpose? Am I making the most of every day? Ahhhh!

Some days, I can barely remember to call the school to tell them my daughter is out sick and also hit major work deliverables and also eat a proper lunch all in the same day (I only did two of the three today, FYI. The dropped ball was remembering to call my daughter’s school). And somehow I need to find my purpose too?

So every now and then, I set it all aside. Instead, I celebrate my 2 of 3 wins today. I read my book club book instead of something profoundly life-changing. This month’s is An American Marriage and it is incredible. And it isn’t pushing me to be my best self or anything!

But Michael’s advice today – and I think I can call him Michael because I actually hosted him at work for a team meeting – really resonated. Maybe it’s up to me to define what extraordinary is to me right now. Some days it’s being an extraordinary mom. Some days its being an extraordinary teammate. Occasionally an extraordinary writer. Or maybe it’s just being better than average at all of those things and that, in itself, is extraordinary. Mind blowing.

So today I’m going to set aside the pressure to be EXTRAORDINARY. And just relish the extra ordinary nature of the life I have. It’s a good life. And today, it’s absolutely good enough.