Family Corner: Finding The Extraordinary In The Ordinary

By: Tracey Ferrin, MCH Columnist
Clear Lake City, Texas USA

It’s something I do that has helped me be happy. I am not saying everyday will be an amazing day but we can have an overall happiness in our lives even through trials.

Our days can become so mundane, right?Well my little secret is finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. This will look different for everyone.

Like marriage for example. I have been married for 12 years. That’s a long time for my age. We have kids, jobs, bills, etc. But we find the extraordinary in the ordinary. We turn grocery shopping into a date. We flirt as we shop. We have kids and 4 of them! But we find each other more sexy as we watch one another be a good parent. We have bills just like we everyone else but as we talk about finances we also talk about the future and the progress we have made. It ends up making us feel very grateful for everything. Driving around running errands with kids, fun right?! We like to blast the music with the windows down and the wind blowing through our hair. You may be surprised how therapeutic this really is. Rainy days can be turned into playing in the rain with our kids. Staying inside and playing games or watching a movie with popcorn.

All these things seem ordinary but we can truly turn them into something extraordinary. We can turn those little mundane things in life into something that is much much more.

The happiness people I know do this, which is why I started to do it. It really ties into gratitude as well. Gratitude for the smallest things in life make me happy! Gratitude allows me to focus on all my blessing. Remember what we focus on only grows bigger.

Next time you catch yourself being annoyed with something mundane, see what you can do to turn it into something more exciting. This is something I have to be conscious of or I will end up being a grumpy lady. But the longer it’s done the more natural and easy it becomes.

Try it!! And don’t worry about what others may think or say. Our happiness in life is in our own hands.