Dear friend,

The calm of a deep breath, the taste of water, the sound of a chuckle, an old memory, the aroma of coffee—you could consider them ordinary or special. The ordinary or special label is a matter of perspective. Deep breath may be just a thought away for you, but it is truly special for someone with chronic lung disease; a warm hug is easy to come by for an elementary school teacher (though not so easy the past few months) but could be a delicacy for a lonely senior. 

Most of the easily accessible feels ordinary; the difficult to get feels valuable. The ordinary thus fills our day, until something happens that makes the ordinary inaccessible. Then we realize how special it was. 

Won’t it be nice, though, to experience the special every single day? Here is one way to do it. Explore the deeper story behind the ordinary. Think of the journey each apple has traversed to arrive at your table. Even better, think about the natural selection or the discovery process that created this apple. For example, the Fuji apple is a product of intense research in the 1930s in Fujisaki, Japan. Thinking about the apple’s story will help you enjoy it even more when you eat it.

Perhaps you are wearing gold somewhere on your body—as an earring, a necklace, or a ring. Did you know that all the gold on our planet was produced in one of the most spectacular cosmic events—the Supernova explosion? I get goosebumps thinking about the fascinating distant past of my wedding ring. My ring also has a past filled with love that placed it on my finger.   

Try to imagine a two-year-old behind an eighty-year-old. See a family of four behind a cab driver, a worried wife behind a cop, a difficult past behind a person who today is homeless. 

Connect with your world today by exploring and imagining the profound story behind what seems mundane. It will help you live deeper. Living deeper will help you get more out of life. 

Let’s love and celebrate the living, instead of waiting to praise them at a memorial service. 

Take care,

Amit