Today’s Prompt:
Most Ordinary by Patti Digh
Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever and picking up our ordinary: false comparisons with others (I’m not as good a writer as _____), false expectations of ourselves (I should be on the NYTimes best seller list or not write at all), and false investments in a story (it’s all been written before, I shouldn’t bother). What are your false comparisons? What are your false expectations? What are your false investments in a story? List them. Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.
(Author: Patti Digh)
I think I error on the opposite side of this equation. I tend to compare myself worst to what I think I am capable of. Other people do things differently, so it is an apple to oranges to comparison. Comparing yourself to your own idea of what you should be accomplishing is much harder to bear.
I have often been described as being harder on my self than anyone else might be. In some ways that is good, but it can also be damaging as we can expect too much of ourselves sometimes. We also might not have a clear vision of who we are really destined to be. Like I wrote yesterday, the danger of wanting to much can lead us down dangerous and damaging paths even when we know better.
That said, I revel in my “ordinary” on most days. Of course, what is ordinary for me is often strange for others. I follow different paths, engage in different things and take the greatest joy in something as simple as a day well lived.
#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing.