How Extraordinary Are You?

We all have the extraordinary coded within us, waiting to be released.

~Jean Houston

Every day, I tell my children they are destined for great things.

"How do you know?" Oldest asks.

"I just do," is my usual reply.

It never--not ever, not for a moment--dawns on me that my children might lead "ordinary" lives. Lives of quiet desperation, lives of monotony. I don't know why it never occurs to me that this might happen, but it doesn't. It's just not on my radar map. Everything I do for them, every waking moment, every sacrifice or time or money, is with that thought in mind.

Now . . . I have to say that I don't think being "extraordinary" means fame and fortune. But I DO think it means finding your passion and pursuing it. Waking each day--or most days--with a sense of purpose. Filling your life with people you don't just "like" but LOVE down to your core. There are so many people in my life that I can look in the eye and say, "I love you." Male friends, female friends. I close my conversations with my Pammie (my best friend), my sister in Texas (boo-hoo) with "I love you." I say it easily to my parents. I say it and MEAN it with so many people because frankly, I don't have TIME for lukewarm relationships in my life. If we get one go-'round, I want to LOVE the people in my life, not pass time with them.

When I first started doing volunteer work, my father, in particular, said poverty couldn't be beaten. That some kids were just going to be hard-wired to make the same mistakes their parents did simply because they had no options. I never believed that. There were DAYS when I went into the 'hood and thought, "You are losing this battle"--but then I would rephrase it. Maybe I lost a battle or two, but not the war. Now, my parents are very interested in my causes and my mom even knits beautiful hats and baby blankets for children who will have a cold winter this year without them. She bought food for seniors struggling to make ends meet last Christmas, which I then delivered. In my mom's own way, she's in the battle.

So it is with writing. I wonder--I really wonder--how many of us had ONE teacher, grandmother, parent, or person who read something we wrote and said, "You know, you are a very good writer . . . you should pursue this."

Think about that. How much "extraordinary" can be unlocked with encouragement? Oh, there's tons of hard work. Don't believe for a second the hard work doesn't FOLLOW the key unlocking the extraordinary . . . but if we all went through life recognizing extraordinary, think of the world.

I mentored an unwed teen mother who delivered her baby and went to school the next day to take finals. She had a second baby. She faced hardship, struggle, and living places that terrified me for her. She is now a nurse. She graduated in May. She is a hero of mine. We spent a couple of years together, every week a part of my life. I love her.

So I say to everyone reading this . . . YOU are extraordinary. Believe it. Own it.

And tell me . . . how extraordinary are you? And who unlocked that key?

Have a beautiful day.

E