God breathed ~ Day dreaming writer ~ Intent on planting seeds of love ~ Desiring to live life beautifully and slowly
Friday 1 June 2012
Ordinary ... the worst insult of all
What
insult offends you the most? If someone
called you ugly, would you cry? If
people said you were boring, would it hurt your feelings? If a group of friends had a party and didn’t
invite you would you feel rejected? What
if someone called you a loser, or fat, or untidy, or lazy or stupid or useless,
none of these would make you feel great but I think I could survive these
insults. Something I would find very
hard to cope with, the very worst insult for me, would be if someone said “Argh,
she is just so, so ... I don’t know, um ORDINARY”. That
one word, right there, feels like a knife in my heart.
I
am not saying I am extraordinary, absolutely not. I’m just saying half-heartedness and
indifference, being ordinary, for me is like dead grass, stray cats or easy listening
music, seriously what is the point. I
live a very simple life, I am sure a vast majority of people who would observe
my life would say it is the absolute epitome, the very definition of ordinary,
and it is, I just hope the way I live it isn’t ordinary.
When
I talk about not being ordinary I don’t mean being famous, or building an
empire, or creating a masterpiece that will be admired for centuries. Nope, it is none of that, it is just making
the most of every day, doing the things that make you feel joyful, letting your
soul breath and your heart sing, not doing what everybody else is just because
everybody else is doing it or just because it will please people, not thinking
near enough is good enough.
American
self-help guru Jim Rohn says “If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you
will have to settle for the ordinary.” So
true, we cannot experience anything greater than the ordinary if we do not
question the norms, if we don’t push the boundaries a little bit, if we don’t
get worked up and passionate about anything, if we don’t take a little risk. Most of us deeply desire to fit in, this is ingrained
in us the minute we start school, to be the same, not draw attention to
ourselves, go with the flow and I know this has to happen to make educating the
majority possible but oh the ordinariness of it all is exhausting.
The challenge is to be wholehearted, enthusiastic and totally committed
to each day. Depending on who you are this
might mean staying in your pjs until lunch, reading your favourite magazine, riding
your motorbike, other days it might be finding a cure for cancer, hosting an
awesome fundraiser to release people from poverty, representing the innocent in
court, spending hours of quality time with your family, learning a new recipe, designing
a new outfit, going on a trip to somewhere you have never been before, writing
a beautiful poem, sitting in the warm winter sun. It could be anything at all, just let’s hope whatever
it is, it isn’t ordinary.
What do you consider the worst insult of all?
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Hello Justine,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog today and I am glad I did. You say the things I am thinking but can't express. I have added my name as a follower and hope we can be friends. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
BTW I think the ultimate insult for me would be "lazy"!
God bless x
Hi Karen
DeleteWelcome to Happy at Herbgully ... I have to say I am pretty excited as you are the first follower of my blog that I don't actually know yet, so this feels like a pretty momentous occasion :-)
I 'found' you on Emily P Freeman's Grace for the Good Girl blog. Looking forward to reading the book and to getting to know you better too. God bless x
ReplyDeleteHey Justine, So true - being 'ordinary', not putting any effort or love into things - what is the point?? Think it has to be up there for me with insults!
ReplyDelete