Hi, welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today I'm going to talk about

the beauty in being ordinary.

You know, we live in an age with a

very high regard for extraordinary

lives, that is lives that the vast

majority of us are never going to lead.

That didn't really sound.

That sounded a bit funny

on that word, I think.

Do you mind if I just roll again?

Hi.

And welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today I'm going to talk about

the beauty in being ordinary.

You know, we live in an age with a

very high regard for extraordinary

lives, that is, lives that the vast

majority of us are never going to lead.

In the media, we see displays of people

with huge amounts of wealth, extraordinary

talent, dazzling looks and heroic virtue.

The constant display of these

extraordinary lives is both

inspiring and impressive.

And also at the same time, it

can be a bit depressing for us.

We can kind of be a source of

dissatisfaction when we compare

our lives to all these glossy

images and golden achievements.

But in the silence of meditation,

we are at one, both with

ourselves and the world around us.

All comparisons fall away.

We're no better or worse than anyone.

We let go of it, all the

labels, the stories, the

achievements, or the lack thereof.

In that moment, we're simply human.

Our hearts are beating,

our lungs are breathing.

We're an interconnected part of nature

and the whole evolving universe.

In silence, the ordinariness of

being human becomes extraordinary.

I think there's something so deeply

connecting and valuable about

really seeing our common humanity.

You know, no matter what we look like,

what we wear, what we've achieved or

attained, when we sit down and enter

that silence, none of it matters.

We're all the same at a

really fundamental level.

We all have hopes and fears and dreams.

We all experience suffering

and we all want to be happy.

And we're all here together, sharing

this snapshot of time in the vast

expense of an ever evolving universe.

Meditation is extraordinary because it

opens us up to what we see so rarely.

You know, we're often so caught up in

wanting and comparing and thinking.

We don't take the time to pause from

all of that and realize just how

interconnected we are with every other

human and the web of life, all around us.

So as we meditate together

today, let's recognize the

extraordinariness in our ordinariness.

So as was always thank you for

your practice and your presence

here with us, and let's settle

in for today's meditation.