I was reading a novel this weekend and came across this quote by Goethe, “A man can stand anything, except a succession of ordinary days.” I have been pondering this quote now for several days and my mind has been all over the map with it. On the one hand I know that I love it when I am energized by learning new things, having stimulating conversations with people, and exploring new places. On the other hand, I also love spending “ordinary” time with family and friends, spending the day reading on my deck, and just chillin’. Perhaps the part of the quote that is important is the succession of ordinary days, which implies nothing new or challenging to the mind. In other words, boring.
And, that perhaps is at the crux of this quote – to live a life awake and active vs going along and letting your life live itself around you. It is so easy to slip into doing the next thing and the next thing and the next thing without really paying attention to where you are going or why you are taking the steps that you are taking. I think that is when we live a succession of ordinary days.
Now, on the other hand you could look at the quote from another angle. This quote holds both ends of a paradox. That ordinary can be both ordinary and extraordinary. For instance, as a new parent, an ordinary smile, when it comes from your new baby becomes extraordinary. Or, a simple walk outside enjoying the sunshine may be perceived as either ordinary or extraordinary. I think I may have drifted away from my initial start – as those of us with Aliveness Life Energy are known to do! The quote speaks to the succession of ordinary days and I do believe that a string of days that do not spark the inner self can become draining or perhaps depressing. The question becomes what can we do to remember to tap into the extraordinary? It doesn’t cost any money and is available to all of us, if we only remember to look, if we remember to be active.
The picture attached to this post is from a trip to Florida. We were sitting at an ordinary picnic table drinking our outstanding smoothies and a rooster walked beneath the table – extraordinary in an ordinary setting. It certainly provided comic relief.
So, today I have two different ways to think about the quote. One way is to observe what is ordinary and what is extraordinary. The other is to begin to notice when you have a string of ordinary days and how you feel about them – have you fallen asleep in your life? The more I think about this quote and what I think was the original intent I think there is a lot of validity to it. When I reflect on the times that I have been bored in my life it has been when my brain hasn’t been stimulated and I have fallen into going on auto-pilot. Maybe it boils down to remembering to be awake in my life and recognizing when I have fallen asleep. I am going to have to think about this one for awhile. I hope it has triggered thought for you, as well. Enjoy!
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