A continuing theme in my life is ‘coming to terms with my ordinariness’. You could also call it self-acceptance After my youth was spent striving to be something noteworthy, scuppered by my small comfort zone (I imagined), it’s only been in my apparent failure that I’ve started to see this mirrored in the outer world and had the courage to see that the outer world is a reflection of what I am experiencing inside.
The predominant thinking in the world is that we should strive to do something meaningful and purposeful with our lives.
We’ve been told to dream big!
Don’t hide our light because the world needs us!
As great and affirmative all this sounds, what is the sum total of all this striving? Climate collapse, the rise of fascism, haphazard governments strung together by ambition, a materialist society that keeps 80% of the world’s population in conditions akin to slavery…(yes, I’ve been doing some very bleak reading lately!)
How come all this well-meaning striving – embedded in our education systems and our collective psyche – towards big goals has cultivated such a disastrous version of life on our earth? Shouldn’t it have been the antidote?
I think the answer lies in this embracing ordinariness. Rather than trying to be the exception, being above average, proving our worth; what if we embraced our ordinariness as perfection itself?
What if striving for big goals and pushing outside our comfort zone were actually ways we abuse ourselves with the widespread belief that we’re just not good enough simply as we are? That our very miracle of existing is not enough?
Can you give yourself permission to enjoy your smallest, most ordinary dreams? When we allow ourselves the freedom to prioritise the dreams that really mean something to us, we stop spending our precious time, health and life on achieving dreams that were only a response to the belief that we are inherently unworthy.
Perhaps by daring to dream your own dreams not only will you find your life more enjoyable and rewarding, but this very act of enjoyment could change the direction of humanity and the future of our planet.
This post was inpired by reading a little of Steve Chandler’s book “Shift Your Mind Shift Your World”. This is what I read:
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.maylingthomas.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Dream-small-1.jpg?resize=261%2C193&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.maylingthomas.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Dream-Small-2.jpg?resize=461%2C611&ssl=1)