The Extraordinary in the Ordinary
The extraordinary is nothing special but a deep commitment which allows us to realize ordinariness was a habit.
This is what it takes—
To do all things, little and ordinary
With fullness of heart and all being
In a most extraordinary way
Approach each action as if it’s your last
Do, without interference of thought
Your attitude will summon the best in you
You will be filled by the best in this way
Infinite potential rests in everyone
But cannot be accessed by selfishness
As selfish, self-centered interests
Can only summon their brethren
Selfishness separates you from all
Separate—you draw from the little well
But when you consistently act for the good of all
You are given access to the fathomless
This bottomless well is infinite
Infinity acts through your very being
A wonder, say others who do behold
Not knowing the real doer is infinity itself
Now, when you do all things with all being
Consistently—each day and every day
Time loses its meaning—it’s no longer needed
As this consistency dissolves time’s divisions
Consistency means non-selectiveness
Non-convenience, or without choice
What purpose can time possibly have
When timeless is your every action
The eternal is what is always there
When you do everything in the best way
The doors of eternity open to you
You’ve earned your way to eternity
You always do what needs to be done
The little ‘I’ cannot enter here
As it acts from outside the situation
But the situation itself now acts through you
To see the extraordinary in the ordinary
Does not take doing extraordinary things
But to do the ordinary in extraordinary ways
And behold glimpses of infinity and eternity
Infinity and eternity are not somewhere else
They are not sometime else as one may feel
They are just here—right now and always
The walls that separate are in our minds only
The walls of our minds and our hearts
Separate us from what is ever here
The wave can never be separate
From the ocean which is its existence
We have to do something every day
What gain is there in petty, selfish ways
But great is the loss of self-centeredness
As petty littleness is what is summoned
All that you do will be left behind soon
What you have today was someone’s yesterday
And will be someone else’s tomorrow too
To lose your peace for this is childishness
What you think you have is only a thought
What you think will come is a thought too
All you think you had is but another thought
Reality is now—why live in thoughts?
If you enter the now with full response
Free from self-centeredness in every way
Reality rushes into your every cell
And evicts the squatter of self-centeredness
To experience the extraordinary
Is to abandon ordinariness in all its forms
Diligent and full-souled must every action be
Infinity and eternity will be felt within
By an extraordinary response to life
You unfold extraordinariness within
Life is practical demonstration, not theory
‘Show me, show me’—it says repeatedly
In an extraordinary way is infinity
Every day consistently is eternity
These forces come behind the ordinary
Making little things tremendous events
To see what great things come from little things
Is to realize there are no little things
To do the ordinary in an extraordinary way
Is the abandonment of ordinariness in every way
When extraordinary enters the ordinary
Time and space stand still
They both marvel in wonder and celebration
At the revelation of the divine omnipresence
Swami Suryadevananda