Why Can't Ordinary be Amazing?

           Doesn’t it seem like we waste a lot of time looking for better, bigger, and the big bang?  With so much advertising stressing that we shouldn’t be satisfied with things the way they are it is no small wonder we tend to buy into that line of thinking.  What we are sublimely hearing is that being ordinary, or having an ordinary life, somehow just isn’t good enough for us. 

That we buy into that line of thinking brings all kinds of problems that we often ignore or don’t see.  Suffering (recognized or not) takes place:

·         Relationships suffer as our emphasis shifts more and more to what makes us feel good.  Stuff becomes important.

·         Finances suffer as we often spend more on impulse than is wise.

·         Things of the world, our junk, become our focus, and our spiritual lives suffer.

We are born with one natural and ordinary characteristic—the need to survive.  That need to survive road has many twists and turns, and as we grow into adulthood those twists and turns often become the wants of more, bigger, better, faster, and less ordinary.  Our focus turns to status, self-esteem, ego, and not being ordinary as we somehow start to thing that all of those “things” will somehow help us to lead more ordinary lives free of issues, problems, and pain.  It’s a vicious cycle.

What if we just took a good hard look at our lives, really focusing on what is important and what is not—a look from a Christian perspective.  And, while doing so, what if we really focused on the kind of life Christ led?  After all, from a biblical perspective he was just an ordinary man through and through, which many might argue.  That said, what if we simply considered that, yes, he was an ordinary man, but one who did extraordinary things.  Looking at it from that perspective, why couldn’t we all just strive to be a bit more ordinary, and then embrace the fact that by doing so we can, indeed do extraordinary things with our lives?  Wouldn’t that be a big part of living a Christ like life?  That would be an amazing life.

 

Bottom Line Thought:  How ordinary is your life?  Is it as amazing as it could be?  Is your lack of satisfaction getting in the way of your being satisfied with an ordinary life?