Every day is a chance to be extraordinary by way of simple ordinary experiences. In an attempt to have an extraordinary life, don’t forget about the ordinary experiences that in their own right, make life meaningful.

Can you believe we are almost at the end of the year? As most of us do every year, this week between Christmas and New Years is a time to slow down, take time to enjoy the last few days of the year, and set meaningful goals in the new year. The new year signifies new beginnings, new possibilities, and a fresh clean slate – a way to dream and plan for an extraordinary year ahead. It is almost as if we have been given a chance to do-over.

This is also a time to reflex on what all happened over the past 12 months – the good and the not so bad. There are no bad experiences in life. Everything happens for a reason and is a chance to learn something about ourselves and about our lives.

This year we also want to encourage you to reflect on the ordinary along with all the extraordinary that you have achieved.

As you plan ahead for the new year and look to setting meaningful goals, take stock of what you are doing that is ordinary as well as extraordinary. Challenge yourself to think about how you can do more of the latter in the months ahead to better your life and those around you, namely your family and friends. When we consider our lives, most of us tend to think about what happened most recently. These memories are more recent and hence we tend to remember all the details much better than what happened a few years ago. Or in some cases even decades ago. For most of us the strongest memories are usually tied to the extraordinary moments, experiences, people and places. You know, those things that have a strong impact on our minds and leave lasting, meaningful impressions on us. These experiences influence who we are and what we become.

But those everyday moments and choices that we make are also equally important. Did we hold the door for someone as we were walking out? Did we give up our seat on the bus for someone who maybe needed it more? Did we cut someone off because we were in a hurry and did not even bother apologizing? Did we fail to acknowledge a stranger who happened to catch our eye and smile?

By purposefully reviewing a shorter time frame, we are able to better identify the ordinary moments that equally shape who we are. We can more easily notice what energizes us, what we need to course correct and helps us to set meaningful goals. And remember meaningful goals doesn’t always mean loft, earth shattering goals. Things like being kind, being humble, being present are just as important to achieve as being successful, being rich, being well-known.

This review of both the ordinary and the extraordinary can help is decide where to devote out time and skills so that we can commit to creating more extraordinary experiences and memories. These choices have an impact not only on our lives but also the lives of those around us.

Our actions have the potential to influence others in remarkable ways and can become part of our legacy.

Here at CulturallyOurs our hope is to impact the lives of men, women and kids to be more culturally aware and culturally conscious of those around us by sharing stories, narratives and lifestyles. We believe that awareness brings education and empathy. Empathy bring acceptance. And acceptance makes the world a brighter more beautiful place to live in.As you wrap up this year and make plans to ring in the new, we encourage you to apply this ordinary/extraordinary lens to your own experiences while they are fresh in your mind.

And as you set new goals, ask yourself a few important questions to make sure they are meaningful for you.

• Why are they important?
• How do they help you grow? – as a person first and foremost
• How do they affect the people around you? – your family, friends AND your community
• How can you take them from ordinary to extraordinary?

Happy New Year from all of us here at CulturallyOurs!

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