Today Is Extraordinary

You are extraordinary

Early morning at Evergreen, heralding another extraordinary day. Photo by Rob.

Have you ever had an extraordinary day when something unexpected happened?

Perhaps you won such a substantial amount from Lotto that you need never work another day in your life, a blue wren sat for a moment on your shoulder, or you were cordially invited aboard an alien space craft for a short tour.

You can probably count these extraordinary days on one hand, while the rest of life unfolds day by day in predictable normality.

Or does it?

Whether a day is ordinary or extraordinary really depends on you, not on outside forces.

How does one turn what seems to be merely ordinary into something extraordinary?

By paying attention to it.

Today you will see a series of ordinary things: probably at least one flower, a cloud, and your right hand. Your eyes will show your brain these things, but you won’t register them long enough to really notice what it is that you are looking at. It’s only when you pay attention to them that you realise how extraordinary they are.

There is no such thing as an ordinary flower, a boring cloud, or an uninteresting right hand.

With this in mind, I paid special attention to the flowering dianthus on my bedroom balcony this morning. The outer edges of each petal were delicately serrated and the arrangement of colour was exquisite. Later in the day I smiled at an afternoon cloud formation that looked like a chariot pulled by a pig, then spent a few evening moments contemplating my incredible right hand which has been doing my bidding for seven decades.

A dianthus flower. How extraordinary!

It would be tiring, and unnecessary, to spend each moment in rapt amazement, but scattering some instances of total absorption in what you normally consider as ordinary can do you a world of good. It raises your level of awareness and floods your senses. Your breath deepens, your heart slows, and endless thoughts fade. The thing you focus on seems to glow.

In that moment you become conscious of what you already are — an integral part of all that surrounds you.

Only then does the ordinary become extraordinary.

Extraordinary You

Financial windfalls, encounters with birds, and meeting friendly alien visitors are rare occurrences, but if you take the time to really examine the ordinary, your perspective will change.

You’ll find that each day will become extraordinary.

Because it is.

And so are you.

With love, Marlane