When I saw this picture I thought of a saying my dad use to say which was “today I will dare to be average.” At the time, I thought it was strange. Who would want to be average? In the society I live today, to excel to the top, to be number one, to have the biggest and the best, that is what we are to strive for. To fall short means we are not good enough.
Today I get what my Dad was trying to say. He was saying to move through my day finding joy in not being the best, but in just being. To find joy in the simple and ordinary things.
When I look around me we have a generation of people who believe being exceptional is the goal. Children are in five different after school activities a week, learning to read by the time they are three and doing math by the time they are four. All for the purpose of being the most exceptional in everything they do.
Somewhere along the way we forgot that a life well lived is not based upon being exceptional in everything we do; it is based on being happy, finding the joy in the ordinary, and yes on days, actually many days, daring to be average is a great place to land.
Today I will dare to be okay with whatever happens. Today I will give myself permission to be happy. Today I will find joy in the ordinary.