EXTRAORDINARILY ORDINARY
In my quest to be an extraordinary human
who leaves her mark on the world, I fear I have turned out to be just the
opposite…an extraordinarily ordinary human!
Who you may ask
is an extraordinarily ordinary human? According to the dictionary the word
“ordinary” signifies many things which include being of common or
established type or occurrence; familiar, everyday, or unexceptional; uninteresting
or commonplace.
Now adding extraordinary
to the word ordinary I can say that I am exceptionally or remarkably
of common or established type or occurrence; familiar, everyday, or
unexceptional; uninteresting or commonplace.
Many of us (and
I wouldn’t dare to say that most of us) have that special yearning to do
something special, something so impressive and incomparable that we stand out
from among the ordinary crowd. I am no exception; and there I believe is where
I become one of the crowds, one of the many who want to do so much in life but
never somehow end up doing anything that can count as even ordinary.
So caught up in
dreaming of the impossible and exceptional have I become over the years that I
most often forget what I am here to do…being a good daughter, a good wife, a
good mother, good sister, good employee; these being the last on my list when I
am fantasising with stars in my eyes. Over the years those fantasies have
changed and I have had to modify them as age catches up and I move on to yet
another stage in life, but the fantasies have stayed.
So what have I
learnt from all this? That ordinary, mundane and what we might term,
commonplace things in everyday life are mind-numbing and dreary but doing them
to the best of my ability with all my faculties is where the extraordinary
comes in focus! I am now gradually and
painfully coming to the conclusion that being ordinary is where the
extraordinary lies!
Being ordinary may not mean Extra-ordinary for some..but it certain means " A Little More Than Ordinary".. well that's in lighter vein..but your write is nothing less than extra-ordinary..a very well thoughtout and contemplative soulful effort which appears to have stemmed from the union of heart and mind..
ReplyDeleteKudos..keep writing and weaving your magic...I like your humility and remember talking about projecting yourself a little less than what you are actually capable of....this blog is a testimony to that..
In my quest to be extraordinary
ReplyDeleteforgot the ordinary
remembered a little late
that extraordinary lies in the ordinary...
Well chosen words to express the thought of being Extraordinarily Ordinary. Nice work Di....
ReplyDeleteYeah, we always carve for being extra ordinary in the early phase of life and somehow we realize while growing mature (read as “old”) that being ordinary is extraordinary.
A similar nice thought expressed by Robert W Service
If you and I should chance to meet,
I guess you wouldn't care;
I'm sure you'd pass me in the street
As if I wasn't there;
You'd never look me in the face,
My modest mug to scan,
Because I'm just a commonplace
And Ordinary Man.
But then, it may be, you are too
A guy of every day,
Who does the job he's told to do
And takes the wife his pay;
Who makes a home and kids his care,
And works with pick or pen. . . .
Why, Pal, I guess we're just a pair
Of Ordinary Men.
We plug away and make no fuss,
Our feats are never crowned;
And yet it's common coves like us
Who make the world go round.
And as we steer a steady course
By God's predestined plan,
Hats off to that almighty Force:
THE ORDINARY MAN.
Thank you GMSV...what a lovely poem.
ReplyDeleteWhat an extraordinary piece of insight you have come by Nirja dear! Yes, you are so right; no one becomes extraordinary by doing extraordinary things. Success, my dear, is sheer drudgery; ask all those who have reached the top. To round off what I have to say, let me quote from Longfellow
ReplyDeleteFROM “THE LADDER OF SAINT AUGUSTINE”
by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW (1807-1882)
We have not wings, we cannot soar;
But we have feet to scale and climb
By slow degrees, by more and more,
The cloudy summits of our time.
The mighty pyramids of stone
That wedge-like cleave the desert airs,
When nearer seen, and better known,
Are but gigantic flights of stairs.
The distant mountains, that uprear
Their solid bastions to the skies,
Are crossed by pathways, that appear
As we to higher levels rise.
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Keep up the good work dearest - love Aunt Agony.
Thank you Agony Aunt...
ReplyDeleteThis certainly is the appreciation of the fact that life itself is extraordinary. Being alive does not just mean just to exist but being alive to everything that is around you. When we start to appreciate the extraordinary in everything around, we start considering ourselves to be ordinary. This is where the extraordinary lies. The capacity to appreciate the extraordinary in life. Not many have it.
ReplyDeleteA very powerful thought and well put forth.