Extraordinarily

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Benjamin Franklin

Do we seek to live our lives extraordinarily? Or do we settle?

I know what you're thinking - "TB, you're nuts. Not everyone - in fact, practically no-one - can live their life extraordinarily. Most of us are struggling to make it through the day. Extraordinary? Have you seen my life lately?"

But that's not quite what I asked - not "Are you doing extraordinary things" but "Are you living your live extraordinarily?"

They're different, you see.

We have come to accept that extraordinary really means great things, big things, things that attract public notice or approval: being a media star, or being a political politician, or a well known (infamous?) artist, or giving large sums of money to causes of our choosing.

These are big things, but they are not necessarily extraordinary things.

Extraordinary things are really different for each of us. Some extraordinary things are not visible to many. Some extraordinary things are really investments in the future of others. Some will never be known this side of Heaven.

Because extraordinary is not defined by the publicity that it generates or the size of the action, but rather by what the action accomplishes - and what it costs us to do it. Extraordinary deeds can be extraordinary because of who accomplishes them, not what they accomplish.

So are striving to live extraordinarily, putting our all into whatever our days hold? We may think that if we are doing so we are pouring our lives into hole like water into sand - but I question if that is really true. Perhaps it is just that we lack the patience and perspective to see the outcome of such things.