There are two kinds of lives: the ordinary life and the extraordinary life. If you had the choice, which would you choose for yourself? Before you decide, you need to ask; what is the cost of the extraordinary life and of the ordinary one?

The extraordinary life is a life that encounters and overcomes great obstacles, tragedies, and trials. Knowing what it comprises, none of us would choose this life. But some of us find ourselves in lives that are anything but ordinary. How do you know if you are living an extraordinary life? You know because, at times, you long for an ordinary one.

No life is completely ordinary. I started my career on a challenging path with a university degree in a Bachelor of Arts (not particularly job-fetching, even then). I continued to make choices that made my life challenging, I didn’t recognize this at the time because I was a dreamer. But woe is the dreamer when the dreams don’t materialize, or when a child dies suddenly.

Through my struggles, I’ve developed strength that I would never have otherwise developed. I’ve become resilient. I’ve become a good problem-solver. Yet, I would never have chosen this life for myself. Would I?

Challenging times transform us into seekers of wisdom, of answers, of relief. They push us to the edge of the cliff — and if we don’t fall, we soar. We gaze with perfect clarity back into the past and see that the ordinary life was a dream for us. And from this point of perspective, knowing all possibilities are before us and that we now have the strength, resilience and experience needed to make our lives whatever we want them to be, would we change anything? Would we really want, as Rod McKuen suggests, “an end to wishing”?

At times, yes, I would in a heartbeat. But then I crave the energy of a life lived on the verge of possibilities; of an extraordinary life as only I can live it.

What’s the cost of an ordinary life? This answer is a short one; The cost of living an ordinary life is that you do not live an extraordinary one.

Photo by Lori Gosselin