See The Ordinary And Be Stunned

-Unknown

 

When was the last time that everyday life impressed you?  When was the last time anything impressed you?  In my old age I have become a little cynical and jaded.  In all honesty, I am not easily impressed.  However, despite my daily struggle with cynicism I can still be stunned by the ordinary, the unexpected and the beautiful.  Additionally, to use the words of the writer C. S. Lewis, I can be “surprised by joy”.  For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, the extraordinary can be found in the ordinary.  You just have to pay attention.  We all get so caught up in our daily routines and struggles that we miss most of life.  In many ways most of us are the walking dead as we live our lives.  For example, who among you has noticed the Harvest moon in the night sky?  When I walked out of the office on Monday night through the park behind our building, I knew something was radically different.  I asked myself, “What am I not seeing?”  I knew something had changed.  I could not see what was not there.  I finally realized that some of the trees had been completely removed and the trees that remained had been significantly trimmed back.  The park looked completely different.  My eyes were open the entire time but they didn’t see what should have been obvious.  We tend to live our entire lives this way.  To see the ordinary and be stunned, we need to not only open our eyes but to also actually see the life in front of us.  The nature of human existence is struggle.  The challenges and struggles can seem overwhelming or at the very least exhausting.  Don’t lose hope. Be ready to be stunned by the ordinary, the unexpected gifts of life, and the beauty around you.  It’s a wonderful feeling to be surprised by joy.