#9 The Heart of the Ordinary
- Christian D'Andre
- Jul 8, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 14
I’ve been tossing this word “ordinary” around for a hot second. But what does it actually mean? What’s the difference between an ordinary and extraordinary life? For starters, I will say this: ordinary is not mediocre. I feel like we associate the idea of being ordinary with ideas of boringness, blandness, and mediocrity. That schmuck on the street? Ordinary. Plain and forgettable. These are the qualities we often associate with the term “ordinary.”
But that’s not quite true. At the heart of the ordinary is the love of regularness, and a gravitation towards it. Some people prefer a little more chaos. Some people love something so much they’re willing to tolerate the craziness that comes with it. But some of us, like me, love consistency enough to build our lives around it. We cherish it like it was a family heirloom-something of value that can’t simply be parted with.
Over the years, I have referred to myself as the six-foot hobbit. I thought the ordinary life was the way of the plain and the simple. I thought it was all about setting yourself up and coasting down the hills of life, laughing gleefully like it was a hill to sled down. Oh boy, was I wrong! It turns out the only lifestyle that is truly plain and simple is the life of mediocrity. To be ordinary is to be intentional about establishing permanence. It’s taking the hits when anyone else would get up and run. It’s telling the tough to get going when the going gets tough. It’s doing the hard thing in the name of building something that will last.
You really do have to be in love with permanence to make the ordinary life work, because keeping anything doesn’t come easy. Imagine trying to hold onto the same car for ten years. You’d have to do a lot of oil changes, part swap-outs, and say more than a few prayers for good fortune. In some ways, it’s far easier to buy another car than to keep one for a longer stretch of time. It’s like trying to stand still in a river. The current urges you to flow downstream with it, but you must fight to find the means to remain steadfast.
I’m not saying this to scare you, but to prove a point: the life of the ordinary, when done correctly, is anything but the easy route. Nowadays, we idolize the movie stars, the rap-gods and social media influencers. We act like that highly unstable lifestyle is the best thing there is. But I’m reminded of the words of Morgan Freeman in the movie Bruce Almighty:
“A single mom who’s working two jobs and still finds time to take her kid to soccer practice, that’s a miracle. A teenager who says ‘no’ to drugs, and ‘yes’ to an education, that’s a miracle.”
Raising kids to be decent people takes work. Building a career instead of job-hopping takes work. We’ve spent too long acting like everything outside of fame is easy. We all need to be intentional about our lives, but there’s a difference between intentional and committing to a certain path. If you’re not sure where you want your life to go, you can be intentional about finding out. Go work a bunch of different jobs. Get to know different people, spend some time alone! But don’t sit on the couch for weeks at a time, hiding from the purposelessness as it takes over your mind. It’s ok to be lost-we all feel it on some level. If you focus on the problem, and a way to solve it, you will eventually find your way. The only man who does not succeed is the man who does not try.
So try! Set to work to build something in your life. Even if you fail, what better way is there to live? I pray this post greets you with guidance, and that you begin to be intentional about the life you are building. I pray for you always
And Until next time
May Peace be your Guide.
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