"A parent who has denied the experience of ordinariness during childhood will be unable to tolerate their child's ordinariness. The child will grow up under pressure to always be extraordinary, which will come at the cost of authenticity. Instead of putting all the pressure on them, can we enjoy our child's ordinariness? Can we find specialness in their ordinary state?"
" Parents say to me, "But we want to expose our children to the best of everything. What's wrong with that? Why shouldn't we send them to ballet and tennis and swimming classes?" I'm not advocating that parents restrict a child's desire to explore. To encourage exploration is a way of honoring a child's being. I'm stressing the importance of helping our children understand that their sense of worth isn't predicated on achievement."
"Although it's natural to want our children to excel, this is preferably never at the expense of failing to revel in their ordinariness. When we deny our children's ordinariness, we teach them to be enthralled only by exaggerations of life. They come to believe that only the grand and the fabulous are to be noticed and applauded, and hence constantly pursue "bigger" and "better".
"In contrast, when our children learn to value ordinary, they learn to inhabit life itself. They appreciate their body, their mind, the pleasure of sharing a smile, and the privilege of relating to others. It all starts with what we as parents teach them to appreciate." from the "Conscious Parent" by Shefali Tsabary, PhD
Imagine a world where we celebrate in the ordinary? Imagine how relaxed we would all be, especially children. Where they are allowed to explore the ordinary and find that it is extraordinary.
I love that when you give up striving for extraordinary, you can be authentic.
Sometimes the ordinary is so extraordinary, it takes my breath away.
And, she is right.....to inhabit life itself, you have to LOVE and embrace the ordinary. And, then all of life seems to be filled with so much extraordinary moments...you lose interest in seeking what we thought of as extraordinary.
And, I know she is right in losing our self worth when only the extraordinary is applauded.
Today seek all the ordinary things and really see and feel them!
I love that ordinary is where life itself is lived.
Don't miss your life by wanting the extraordinary.
Or take the word extraordinary and break it into Extra Ordinary.
Find that!
Nothing is ordinary when you discover the extraordinary in ordinary!
