Do I have to be Extraordinary to be OK?

I’ve been to many networking events, workshops and seminars that place so much emphasis on being extraordinary that I’d come out feeling that there must be something very wrong with me for not aspiring to reach the dizzy heights of extraordinariness(!)  that these people claim to have achieved.

What’s wrong with being ordinary, I wonder?  Do I have to be extraordinary, or at least aspire to be extraordinary, to be OK?

Whilst sometimes an extraordinary event, or participation in an extraordinary event, can transform a person’s life, some of the most transformative and moving experiences I have had are, and continue to be, very ordinary.

A hug, a smile, a sunset, a song, children playing; moments of deep contact that I’m unable to communicate adequately in words.

When I lose the sense of wonder and delight that a child has in exploring a rock, a leaf, a seashell, its own body; I may then try to convince myself that something outside of myself, something extraordinary, will give me back my excitement, my love, my appreciation of life!