2. The Extraordinary within the Ordinary

I can recall the exact moment. 

When the weight of failure came crashing down on my chest, leaving me completely overwhelmed and, quite frankly, irrational. I was watching the 2022 Winter Olympics with great dedication. I went from extraordinary highs watching winners win, to epic lows. ‘What am I doing?’ Look at these incredible talents, spending their free time training, pushing themselves to their maximum potential. I can barely get up before 9 a.m. 

Just a note; I have never had any previous ambition to be an Olympian. I was a pretty average hockey player in high school, a slightly over-average squash player, I could run pretty fast in the 100m sprint. But oh boy am I an epically talented ping-pong player … in the park, that I frequent now and then. 

So I’m really not quite sure why I decided to relate my life ambitions to the Olympics. 

I kept thinking ‘What’s wrong with me?’. ‘I’ll never leave a mark, be remembered, or be extraordinary’. I’ll simply be ordinary. 

But what about those extraordinary moments in everyday life? The simple and little things we forget to view as achievements. Those extraordinary moments of being simply ordinary, of being human. Falling in love, making dinner, taking a walk, enjoying a meal with friends, making someone laugh, having family get-togethers, travelling, and the most impressive in this equally ugly and beautiful world; being kind. 

Why is that not enough? Why are those not achievements? 

To leave this world knowing you made a positive impact on someone else’s life should be enough. Knowing that you loved and were loved. Knowing that you shared your life with others. Knowing that you laughed, worked, cried, grieved, and feared. Knowing that you felt it all, should be enough. 

Because if social media wasn’t telling you that other people had done it, would you feel so bad about not having done it? If it was simply about what you want from life, what you want to achieve, and how you feel after doing the things you choose to spend your time doing, you may find yourself leaving this world, not as an Olympian, but as a local school coach, with Ted Lasso-style motivation. 

And is that not enough? Is that not impressive or worthy enough? What is seemingly ordinary can hold so much beauty.