Ordinary People Can Accomplish Extraordinary Things – O.P.C.A.E.T.
What Is an Ordinary Person?
Ever since I became a marathon runner almost 40 years ago, I realized that the act of running brought out that something extraordinary within me that I never even knew existed.
Yet here I was, compared to the rest of the world’s running population, pretty much an ordinary runner. When I say that, I mean that I was not nearly as fast as a large portion of the runners on the planet.
As a matter of fact, even at a younger age, I almost always fell into the middle of the pack runners during races, as I almost always finished in only the top 30 to 50% of the field, and never won a single medal or trophy for finishing in the top three in my age group.
Still, going out for a 20-mile training run every few weeks or so put me in touch with that extraordinary that had seemed to be lying dormant within my being up until that point in my life.
This extraordinary sense was especially activated every time I came across the finish line of yet another 26.2-mile marathon race.
Every time I did so, I knew I had accomplished something extraordinary because I knew I had “left it all out on the course”.
I had nothing left in my energy tank, both nutritionally, and the essence of my entire being. I had used it all up to accomplish the extraordinary.
This simply just does not happen in our daily lives mainly because we have a reserve within ourselves that we don’t know is even there – That is until it is called upon.
Throughout human history, usually this reserve was tapped only during times of fight or flight.
The good news is that you don’t have to be a runner to find that extraordinary within yourself.
We All Have a Purpose in Life
We have all come into this lifetime with a main purpose, a God-given function that most of us don’t even know we have, and usually doesn’t reveal itself until we have done some maturing and endured many life experiences.
Yes, there are those who seem to have an excellent grasp of what their extraordinary is, even at a very young age, but within the vast majority of humanity, they seem to remain a small minority.
Your extraordinary could be in weaving, music, leadership, tennis, painting, mentoring, coaching, or teaching, for that matter.
Fret not if you are not athletic, as your extraordinary goes far beyond all seeming limits you may perceive within yourself.
Perhaps this quote from the book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (professor of Positive Psychology at Claremont University Graduate School) will inspire you to go beyond your supposed limitations and go after your extraordinary –
“Every person, no matter how unfit he or she is, can rise a little higher, go a little faster, and grow a little stronger. The joys of surpassing the limits of the body is open to all.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
In Other People’s Eyes and Minds
We live in a world that contains almost 8 billion individuals that we perceive as separate and unique, however, ask any one of those 8 billion what they think of their neighbor and they’ll more than likely say, “Oh, she’s just one of us, an ordinary person.”
That being said, there are countless examples of childhood prodigies or geniuses.
So yes, it is true that there are those individuals who do come into life overtly displaying and living the extraordinary right from-the-get-go.
I say to those individuals, God Bless you!
Go for it and make the most of your particular talent and genius, hopefully in a manner that will enhance the quality of joy of life on earth.
For most of us, however, the image we project into the mind of the world of who and what we are seems to meld seamlessly into the herd mentality of “ordinary”.
For many of us, we, unfortunately, take this moniker to heart and may as well be walking around with a sign on our shirt that says. “ORDINARY”!
I’m here to tell you that you are anything but ordinary!
As a matter of fact, I will go so far as to say that ordinary actually does not exist within the human race. In truth, extraordinary is the one common denominator throughout all of humankind, it’s just hidden, buried deep within the layers of your paradigms.
In Your Own Eyes and Mind
This is simply how we perceive our fellow human beings that basically they are just like everyone else.
This, of course, can be argued that because of the false paradigms of racism, cultural and religious differences, socio-economic differences, etc., but is not true – that is for another article, however.
In general, most of us look at our brother or sister and say, “What makes you any more special or extraordinary than any of the rest of us?”
Yet there are some deep spiritual insights that are embedded in this territory of how you view yourself and project it out onto other people.
Spiritual truth states that we are all one, but egoic-driven thoughts of separateness can and do create belief in inequalities when viewing and thinking about another person.
The All-Pervasive Paradigm That All Men are Created Equal
While yes, we all were created by God like Him, this is a rather dualistic expression in that it can lead one to believe, “If I was created equal, then why would I be any more extraordinary than anyone else?”
The answer of course is that your very own “extraordinary” was also built in when you were created. This too has deep spiritual insights of your Divine origin built into it.
Learned Paradigms and Influences:
While considering why other people and you view you as ordinary there are a number of learned paradigms, judgments, and influences to factor in
1. “You’re No Better Than Anyone Else!”
This projected belief, whether coming from another person or from within yourself is derived from the ego.
The ego always is in conflict and feeds off of and becomes stronger from the powerful negative emotion of this judgment.
As is evident in the aggressiveness of the statement that “You’re no better than anyone else” it’s easy to see that it is a form of attack upon the other person.
This is because you may actually see something within them that really is extraordinary which makes you think that they have something you do not, so you attack via that statement.
2. Lack of Worthiness
This deep sense of not being worthy of being extraordinary in some manner or form, or of attaining your greatest intentions and desires cuts a wide swath through the vast majority of humanity.
Not only is your lack of worthiness disempowering, its crippling.
Unfortunately, this belief that you are not worthy of receiving has been pounded into your brain from the moment you were born.
And again, this is another egoic trick to keep you in a disempowered place that triggers all sorts of negative emotions that empowers the ego.
3. Not Understanding Your True Extraordinary Nature
This comes from being blinded for most of your life to the fact that your extraordinary really does exist within you simply waiting to be released.
Because your extraordinary does exist within you, it is available for you to tap into. Sometimes tapping into it comes through strong emotions and life experiences that trigger its unleashing.
For example, when I decided to run my 52 marathons in 52 weeks, the trigger was the passing of the little boy who had leukemia that I had been running all my marathons for.
The good news is that powerful emotion or thought that triggers the unleashing of your extraordinary does not have to exclusively come from the negative and disempowering source.
Instead, you may reach a point in your life where you inherently remember it exists within you.
There may not even be any words to that can adequately explain that moment of awakening, but your personal moment of blossoming into your expanded extraordinary self simply takes place.
4. Social Pressures – Schools, Cliques, Employers, Parents, Teachers, Coaches
When considering these sources of disempowerment that keep you pinned in the world of the ordinary, it really is disappointing, but not unexpected.
As I stated earlier, from the time you were born, the world that has been trained in the egoic thought system of suppressing the extraordinary within you, or anyone else on earth, has been the driving force.
Unfortunately, many of the key people and organizations who hold positions of power and dominance over you – schools, cliques, employers, parents, teachers, friends, coaches, etc. act as the instruments of their own disempowering egoic training and impress it (many times forcefully) to keep you from feeling worthy and from discovering the embedded extraordinary within you.
Elements of Becoming Extraordinary:
1.) Listening to/tuning Into Your Divine, Higher Calling.
This is yet another element that because of the constant cacophony of the world and the continuous chatter of your “monkey mind” (that voice in your head that never seems to stop rattling off thoughts that keep you unfocused and confused).
Now you may turn to such things as meditation, spiritual teachings, and a multitude of positive, empowering sources around you to finally tune into that Divine, Higher calling that has gently, but persistently been calling to you throughout your life.
Believe me, that calling from your True Self that may have been lying dormant for decades will never leave you.
It only takes determination on your part to hear it.
This is where the origin of your extraordinary lies.
2.) Following Your True Passion(s).
While there may be elements of your extraordinary that aren’t necessarily tied to your true purpose and passion in life, but once it is released, your newly found extraordinary (whatever it may be) can and will enhance your life in ways that you may not even perceive.
However, when you do finally tap into your life’s purpose, I can tell you with certainty that is where you will experience a veritable explosion of extraordinary coming from deep within you.
Literally, your extraordinary has patiently but excitedly awaited this moment of its release from deep inside you, and when it does, prepare for an expansion of your being in ways that you never thought possible.
3.) Letting Go of Any Perceived Limiting Factors.
Now that you have discovered your extraordinary, in order to rise to new heights of personal expansion and achievement, it’s time for you to leave all of those life-long limited factors that have been chained to your being for oh so long.
In doing so, you will experience a feeling as if real heavy iron chains have been lifted off of your back, off your heart, and from your mind.
Your extraordinary has found its wings and taken flight, and all of those learned limiting factors vaporize and disappear in its presence.
No one can serve two masters, at least not well.
In this case, one master, you’re ordinary, casts its dominance of limitation, unworthiness, and playing small upon you as it tries to keep you within its iron grip never to be released.
The other master, your extraordinary, allows you to shed your shackles of the cruel master of the ordinary, and fly to new heights that you had previously only imagined in your wildest dreams and thoughts.
4.) Willingness to Leave the Ordinary, the “Safe” Things Behind.
Using myself as an example, I can say that the contentedness and safe feeling of the ordinary has reared its head far too many times throughout my life.
It is the pull to stay in a safe mode where you think there is the only comfort, safety, and no danger.
I have found that when these feelings of contentedness occur, I have to remember my extraordinary and allow it to spread its wings to take flight again.
This does not mean that when you do express your extraordinary you must permanently lose all of the things that make you feel safe and content, but yes, sometimes that does happen.
It all depends on just how committed and motivated you are to achieve that extraordinary within your life. As the old saying goes, “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are made for”.
5.) Dare, Dream, Risk!
For many years I have had a small sticker on the back window of my car that says this.
By keeping this personal pronouncement of dare, risk, dream with me at all times, it reminds me to not be afraid to “go for it!” – to pursue my greatest dreams and goals.
I highly suggest that you come up with your own personal affirmation or credo to keep you connected at all times to your extraordinary.
As previously mentioned, as you pursue the expansion and achievement of your own extraordinary you may have to let go of your current safe life to pursue your passion & dreams. Is that “safe harbor” of yours going to limit your reaching of your extraordinary?
Even if this is the case please understand that you can pursue the extraordinary from where you are right now.
You have to take that first step toward the goal of your extraordinary. Each subsequent step will become easier and easier as you go for it.
Principles of Creating the Extraordinary
1.) Follow Your Passion!
This is where your heart is.
It is that deep abiding calling that you may not even be consciously aware of, but you may have long felt the calling somewhere within your being that there has got to be something more – something extraordinary for me to be, do, have, and become.
2.) Take Action With Faith, Trust, and Inspiration.
Having personally committed to my extraordinary accomplishment of running 52 marathons in 52 weeks, I can safely say that I could have never done it without my diving headfirst into the deep pool of complete and total faith, trust and inspiration.
Deep in my heart, I knew that there is something much bigger than me that was running each mile of every marathon week after week after week, safely and successfully guiding me to the achievement and expansion of that extraordinary that had been dormant within me for my entire life up until that time.
3.) Make it Matter.
Once your extraordinary has come clearly into focus in your mind’s eye, use it to make a positive, joyful, and abundant manner to benefit not just yourself, but all involved.
When you do this, it will actually be a miracle that has infinite positive ramifications throughout all of space and time – ramifications that you more than likely will never be able to fully perceive.
4.) Be Willing to Release all Contentment and Complacency.
While I have already emphasized this aspect of taking a hold of your extraordinary, I want to emphasize it even more.
Your extraordinary does not reside in contentment and complacency.
You must translate it into inspired action combined with trust and faith to make it your reality.
5.) Believe, Believe, Believe!
Believe it can be, it will be, and most of all, believe as if you have already accomplished your extraordinary.
The Universe only acknowledges the current vibrations of your thoughts and emotions that emanate from deep within your heart and your subconscious.
Believe and it will be.
The Five Key Principles of O.P.C.A.E.T.
1.) Worthiness
2.) Passion
3.) Belief/Trust
4.) Letting go of all perceived limitations
5.) Knowing your extraordinary matters in the world’s grand scheme.
If you truly wish to unleash your Champion from within its cage of perceive limitations, you must proudly wear these five key principles of O.P.C.A.E.T. on your chest.
Have a tee shirt made with them printed on your chest, have them tattooed on your arm, post them by your mirror.
However you chose to dedicate yourself to finding your extraordinary, you must live and breathe these principles to make them come alive.