On any given week, I fluctuate between wanting to rule the world to wanting to curl into a ball and watch Hallmark movies and mysteries until I disintegrate into the couch. I often struggle with my life either having to be ordinarily mundane or extraordinarily miraculous. In my younger mind, it was always one or the other. If I wasn’t doing or experiencing something miraculous, then what was the point? What I’m learning as I gain more wisdom (or get older), is that it’s not an either/or, but rather a journey from one to the other. Showing up in the mundane provides a way to the miraculous.
Let me repeat that: Showing up in the mundane provides a way to the miraculous.
Opposed to what my children think, I wasn’t around when Noah built the ark. There is discrepancy on how long it actually took him to build the ark, but if it took him longer than 48 hours, then I’m astounded at the attention span and drive that Noah had. I’m pretty sure that working on the same project for 75-100 years would send me over the edge, but Noah showed up every day to build that ark and look at the miracle he was involved in.
Thomas Edison worked tirelessly for approximately two years to develop the lightbulb. He and his team tested hundreds of materials and conducted about 1,200 experiments. 1,200 times he showed up for “work” and tried and failed and tried and failed until one day he tried and succeeded. He showed up day after day in order to create something miraculous for mankind.
Think about how many professions we can say this about: researchers, artists, athletes, musicians, doctors, scientists, etc. The list could go on and on. The list also includes you and me. Ordinary people doing ordinary things that lead to something extraordinary. Maybe our extraordinary will never be Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein extraordinary, but it doesn’t make it any less extraordinary.
Taking your child to therapy every day and finally witnessing them do something they’ve never done before? That’s mundane to miraculous.
Going to every sports game your child has but finally getting to see them score the winning goal? There’s a lot of mundane games in that schedule, but you got to see the miraculous moment! Lucky you.
Starting at the bottom of the totem pole at work only to look back and see how you’ve moved up in your profession? That takes showing up every single day, doing more than what you’ve been asked to do (and certainly more than you get paid for), and watching the mundane tasks move you to the miraculous position that you’ve always wanted.
Being handed your newborn baby without a clue what to do but showing up and doing the dang thing every single day is SO MUNDANE. It’s all mundane. The dishes, the cleaning, the appointments, the homework, the cooking. It’s also all miraculous as one day that little newborn will be a successful adult thanks to the fact that what you did every single day provided the way for that child.
