The Extraordinary Ordinary Day

I had a hard time sleeping last night.  Yesterday was one of the best days of my life.  I sat in bed thinking about how amazing my day was and why I was feeling the way that I did and I relived the events of the day in my head.  To the outside eye, my day looked like this:

I woke up at 5:30am, showered and got ready to do an open house for work at the College of Southern Idaho.  I met up with a representative from the Air Force, named Sheldon at Utah State University at 6:00am and we drove up to Idaho together.  The drive was through the ugliest part of Idaho and I was super tired.  I was bobbing my head for most of the trip, trying to stay awake.  We arrived earlier than expected and went to Maverick to get breakfast.  I bought a Krispe Kream donut that wasn't very good, chocolate milk, and a breakfast sandwich.  The open house went well, nothing special.  We met a lot of nice people and I made some great connections in the international office - relevant to my job at USU.  We ate lunch at this Mexican restaurant and drove home.  I purchased a 5 hour energy and figured that $4 was a fair price to stay awake and stay alive ha ha.  I dropped off Sheldon and dropped off some items in my office and drove home from USU with my brother Mike.  When I got home, I finished my taxes, figured out how to program my car remote, made my famous cake shakes for my roommates and played pool against my brother and went 1-7 ha ha.

The amazing thing about this day is that is was nothing special.  I was super happy and it was great!  Maybe to the outside eye, my day was normal or even sucked, but this is how I saw and experience it:

I woke up at 5:30am.  I was nervous to meet Sheldon, because he's is in the Air Force and I didn't want to drive all day with a strict soldier - we would have nothing in common.  When I met him, he was wearing a New England Patriots beanie and coat- we were best buddies.  We talked about sports, life, religion, and traveling.  He was great!  Although the drive was not necessarily pretty, the sun was coming up and it made the few snow capped mountains look gorgeous. Breakfast at Maverick was not ideal, but the fact that I could eat any type of a sandwich with my braces was a big step for me! The staff at the Open House was fantastic and everyone at CSI was super friendly.  My connections in the international office were super helpful and supportive of my recruiting efforts to USU.  Lunch was at one of the best Mexican restaurants I have ever been to for the price.  When I returned home, I reunited with my brother and he had a great day, which was nice to hear.  I came home, finished my taxes, programmed a car remote that I have been messing with for about a week, made my famous cake shakes with a new ingredient - but the original is better, and finally beat my brother at pool after losing 7 times in a row ha ha. Persistence paid off, just like Tom Brady being down by 10 in the 4th quarter - best super bowl ever ha ha ha.  My brother scratched on the unlikeliest of shots and I was laughing so hard.  The 1 win was all I needed.

That's it . . . that's my amazing day! (You are probably thinking . . . "This guy's life sucks!")

Not too long ago, a friend of mine asked me about the best days of my life.  I didn't have to think about it too long before answering . . . St. Andrews, Scotland . . . traveling in East Asia . . . fishing in Alaska . . . spending a day at a resort in Mazatlan.  I know I have had a blessed life, for which I am grateful, but I felt bad thinking that all of the best days of my life were far away, doing pretty cool things that I will probably do once in my life.  She told me some of her best days . . . they were just average days (in my opinion) with her family.  But, she cherished the simple things.  I thought that night . . .  the best days of this girl's life were the average, ordinary days we all live . . . everyday.

I thought about this all week and it is not like I was intentionally planning on having a "best day" yesterday, it just happened. I attribute it to my perspective.  When I was a missionary in Toronto, Canada, I had the pleasure of learning from one of the best men I've ever met.  His name is Brad Mahoney and he taught me that life is full of miracles, but the real miracle is being able to recognize the miracles.  This perspective changed my mission and my life, until I lost sight of it when I returned home.  I fortunately regained this perspective this week and the result was incredible!

It reminds me from a scene from my favorite movie, "About Time".  The main character has the ability to travel back in time any day in his life and this is what he realizes at the end:



When I started writing, I had no intention of making this sentimental, but I guess it is a sentimental topic.  How amazing life could be if you had this perspective everyday, enjoying each moment - good and bad, learning from experiences, and being grateful for the journey.

Kind of changing topic, but kind of not . . .

Last Fall, I visited a friend in New York.  We had some great talks about life and she said that a lot of her friends are jealous of her life in the "Big Apple", because all they see are the amazing posts on Instagram and Facebook.  They don't see the day-to-day events, feeling uncomfortable on the subway, the inconveniences of not having a car, the unsettling feeling that you are on your own in one of the biggest cities in the world.  Social media tends to do us a disservice, because it is creating a false life that we portray to others.  (As I use social media to explain this point ha ha).  But, I am guilty of this too.  I tend to only post things when I am traveling or doing something that is awesome.  I NEVER POST ABOUT THE ORDINARY DAY, but I should.  Think if we all posted about the ordinary day.  There would be less comparing, less hating our lives, less depression.  Looking back, the worst times in my life are when I have compared myself to others.  I have learned the hard way recently that the people that I thought had the best lives, were struggling the most.  Everyone puts on a front, and sometimes you need to, but let's stop comparing our lives and let's make it easier on each other.

I felt super bad when I was in England last fall.  One of my friends on Facebook messaged me and said something like, "I am so jealous of your life man.  What do you do for a living?  You seem to be traveling all the time."  Anyone who knows me personally knows I don't have any money, I traveled a few times last year, but that was an unusual year.  I have a fun job at USU, but I don't make that much, my family is huge and super poor too ha ha, but I am happy with where I am at.  I felt bad that I portrayed a life I don't have.

So, the point of all of this or a few points to learn:  each day can be amazing if we have the right perspective.  We don't have to spend tons of money and travel to the other side of the world to have "The Best Day".  There is always something to be experienced, learned, and enjoyed.  APPRECIATE THE EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY days you have and lets stop comparing our lives to someone's vacation.

The World is Good

I hate the news.  I think it is negative and gives a false portrayal of how life is.  The news rarely talks about the good in the world.  Last year, I had the opportunity to go to China.  I had a struggle getting my VISA and it was much more difficult than I expected.  I was told by others and various posts online that it was because I am from the United States.  When I flew into Beijing, I was a little nervous to be honest.  I have met Chinese people before and they have been great, but the media had given me a false belief that China didn’t really like the USA.  I was told in a letter that accompanied my VISA that because I had a few months left on my passport, that there is a possibility that I wouldn’t be allowed to enter China.  This letter along with my preconceived notions about China not liking the USA only made me more uncomfortable.  As I approached the counter at the airport in Beijing with my VISA and passport, I was pretty nervous.  I handed the officer my papers and said, “Nee How Ma?”  (How are you in Mandarin). He looked at me sternly, didn’t say anything, and examined my paperwork for what seemed like 5 minutes.  I was certain there was a problem.  Then, in an instant, he stamped my passport and VISA aggressively and motioned me to go forward.  I gave a sigh of relief, I was in China and they accepted my VISA.  I was still reluctant.

 Later that day, I found myself at the Forbidden City.  I was the only white guy in a sea of Chinese people and felt like everyone was looking at me and to be honest, I felt like I was an intruder and like I wasn’t welcomed.  I made no effort to talk with anyone, because I felt like I wasn’t welcomed.  It was one of the most uncomfortable feelings I have ever experienced.  The next day, I went to the Summer Palace and although it was beautiful, my feelings remained the same.  I remember thinking on the bus back to my hotel, “Well, what everyone told me and everything I have read is true.  The Chinese people in China really do hate Americans.” I sat in my seat, staring out at the window thinking. We were stopped at a red light.  Another bus pulled up next to mine and it was packed with Chinese people.  I caught a Chinese woman staring at me from the other bus and I looked down immediately.  I glanced up quick to see if she was still looking at me and she was.  I am normally a friendly guy and if I was in the US, I would have totally waved, but I thought to myself, “No, you are in China, they don’t really say hi and besides, they don’t like Americans.”  Then I thought . . . “Screw it!”

I looked up and she was still looking at me with what looked like a sad, tired, serious look.  I looked back at her, smiled, waved my hand, and mouthed, “Hello!” and awkwardly bowed my head.  I will never forget her reaction and it was one of the best experiences I had in China and one of the best lessons of my life.  She immediately changed here entire countenance like she woke up from a sleep.  Her eyes got big, she smiled, waved back and whispered, “Hello!” and awkwardly bowed back.  She was smiling so bright and I was too.  The light turned green and her buss accelerated faster than mine we smiled at each other until we could no longer see each other.  I had about an hour bus ride before I arrived at the hotel and just remember sitting in my seat and being so happy.  I thought, “That was amazing!  I think they (the Chinese people) like us!  The news is full of crap.  Maybe they think we don’t like them and we think they don’t like us.”  That moment, I changed how I thought about China (and other nationalities for that matter) and I was saying hi to everyone.  The change I felt about China couldn’t have been more opposite.  I remained in China for 4 more days and it was amazing!  The people were incredible and I love that country!

When I got home, I really felt like I had become a better person.  This small experience has helped me to appreciate others more, especially those people from other countries. I think the media creates false stereotypes and it isn’t fair.  I believe people are inherently good. I also believe that if we treat people like they suck, they will suck (or at least we will perceive them that way).  The world is full of great, amazing people . . . maybe all it needs is for people to believe it.