Find Extraordinary in the Ordinary

This is what pause and presence is all about.

“Do not ask your children

to strive for extraordinary lives.

Such striving may seem admirable,

but it is the way of foolishness.

Help them instead to find the wonder

and the marvel of an ordinary life.

Show them the joy of tasting

tomatoes, apples and pears.

Show them how to cry

when pets and people die.

Show them the infinite pleasure

in the touch of a hand.

And make the ordinary come alive for them.

The extraordinary will take care of itself.”

~William Martin, The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents

Imagine the beauty of a world where we not only teach our children to do this but we also do it ourselves.