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The Amazing Ordinary

Posted By: Randy GageNovember 19, 2009

The last few days we spoke about appreciating life’s simple pleasures and the not so simple pleasures.  But what about all the amazing ordinary things we take for granted?

Do you have any idea how incredible it is that you can hear someone’s voice from 800 miles away over a phone line?  Do you realize just how mind-boggling it is that you can watch your favorite sports team score on your cell phone?  Do you have any idea how frigging amazing it is that someone can put a piece of paper with images on it into a machine and it can pop out an exact copy on your fax machine?  (I still don’t believe this one!)

You can get somewhere in a five hour plane ride that used to take ten years.  Do you realize I wrote this blog post sitting in my office in Miami Beach, and you’re reading it a few minutes later wherever in the world you are?

We all take waaay too much for granted.   When we begin to appreciate how amazing some of these ordinary daily things really are, it can bring a whole new dimension of prosperity to our life.

So what ordinary things can you appreciate today?

-RG

33 comments on “The Amazing Ordinary”

  1. I agree with you, Randy. Technology is truly amazing, and I would imagine on most days, many times a day, someone says 'what did we do before email?' or 'what did we do before computers?' or 'what did we do before Twitter?' But today, as I sit between my 2-year-old daughter and my 5-year-old son who are watching 'Oswald' as I type this, I appreciate this time. Ordinary time...kids watching TV, mom on the laptop. Nothing spectacular, nothing crazy. Just a mellow morning. We are all doing something to fill the senses (and let me be clear...TV time is very short-lived in my house. Just a way for me to get a few things done, then we're off to do something fun together away from the TV!). But for now, I will continue to appreciate this time. Thanks for the reminder!

  2. As a prior secretary, I was totally amazed with the fax machine. I must say, we are blessed daily. 🙂

    To keep up with all this computer technology is a challenge daily!!! LOL

  3. Given that over a billion people won't even eat today this is a vital message. Lots of us love to complain (with good cause usually) about lousy service, stupid airlines, idiotic government behavior, yadda yadda yadda. Every once-in-a-while we just need to sit down, shut up and look around at the miracles we've grown so complacent about.

    As another blogger pointed out some time back, "You're sitting on a chair 40,000 feet up in the air traveling at 550 miles an hour! Not getting a pillow the instant you ask for it seems a little silly."

    A good Baptist "Amen" to you today Randy!

  4. Absolutely Randy! I am airline pilot, was flying over London one nice day last year and it suddenly hit me that modern air travel is a miracle! You can get in this tube and a few hours later you're in a completly difference country thousands of miles away!

    Trouble is it's become so "routine" that we forget that our ancestors could barely do the same 50 years ago, let alone 100 years!

    OK yes air travel has it's trials and tribulations with mindless security checks, delays etc but let's rejoice in the miracle too!

    Robert

  5. Good afternoon :o)

    Actually, I think that anything we get used to becomes ordinary in our perception after a while.
    ...it takes a conscious effort to notice things for what they really are. ie:Rush hour traffic can be an entertaining city tour with beautiful buildings that silently guide us through the evolution of architecture waiting for us to notice, enjoy, and appreciate them for providing us shelter, comfort, entertainment and joy... although most often they're seen as big insignificant clumps of stone.
    ...if we slow down enough, we can see that so many things that accomodate our daily lives complement the genius mind, the collective effort and the intent to contibute; and everything that may have seemed ordinary until that point becomes amazing.
    ...and ordinary people only seem that way, too...they are really amazing :o) They're the ones who are always there.

  6. You know I was just thinking the same thing ,I was in Wisconsin
    in the morning and ct buy that after noon up dating my twitter /jdavidmoffitt shameless plug , and face book I just love the power of all this, We live if the greatest times spread joy not fear, We have so much power ,
    Thanks for doing what you do

  7. I still can t understand why a airbus fly. How Internet can process my communication instantly 1000ns miles away.
    But it works neither i understand it or not and that calms me.
    Those magic items gives me quality time I can spend in ie three days in monastir ?
    Good subject Randy

  8. Nature is amazing..

    People are amazing..

    Thoughts are amazing since they create our reality..

    And yes, technology of all sorts, electricity, light impulses, hydrogen cell cars, robotics, lasers, nano technology and so many other advanced ideas are all amazing..

    And they ALL come from the human mind which is the most amazing of all!

  9. Hello Randy,
    You are absolutley correct. Technology is amazing and forever
    changing. The sun, moon, stars, rain or shine remains the same.
    Nature is amazing to me and the billions of cells in our bodies
    that keep us alive. Take a deep breath and give thanks to the Creator of the Universe.
    Peace and Blessings to All
    DG

  10. What is truly amazing is the amount of food that we consume in this country and how many people there are consuming it and yet, whenever we go into the super market, there are all those rows and aisles of fresh quality meat, produce and other food with hardly any empty spaces anywhere!

  11. Very true words spoken here by the man himself. Thanks Randy, great reminder for us all to appreciate the wonders we have been able to put together from the basic resources our planet and the universe have given us.
    But what truely boggles my mind is the fact that, if we have managed to come so far and produce so much in the last hundred years or so (phones to TVs and fax copiers and air transport are all relatively new forms of technology) then where will we be a hundred years from now? Or even 10-20 years from now when most of us will still be alive and prospering. With no apparent slow down in the rate at which technology is advancing, what new forms of technology are going to be changing our lives in the near future as drastically as some of the above examples have already done?
    Looking forward to wittnessing what the human mind will be creating in years to come, whilst enjoying all of our present wonders.
    Peace, love and prosperity.
    Brendan (Marbella, Spain)

  12. Sometime around 10 years ago telcom and the internet began to merge. What was once waiting for the time for the price to go down to call became no cost at all. I have local phone numbers in CA, FL, MN, UK, ... for pennies a month and it costs nothing to call virtually anywhere in the world and I live in South America.

    Given how fast technology is changing and the rate it expands at the same time... "Beam me up, Scottie" may be closer than anyone realizes.

  13. I believe we take for granted the abundance that surrounds us every day in this country. You are never more than a mile or so from some food source, or shelter, warmth and safety. What amazes me the most is when these needs are met consistently, some folks start creating their own obstacles to overcome (hero's journey), rather than turning their attention outward. If more would turn their attention to the mysteries that are not yet solved in this world, just think of the marvels that could manifest for the future. 🙂

  14. My best last month?

    Calling some awesome dude on his cell phone as he walks to board a flight I think in Singapore...

    That my phone can connect there to him.. as he looks for his flight.

    My daily best?

    My tumble dryer, dishwasher and washing machine. The amount of time daily it saves me!!!! I do feel so humbly grateful!!!!

    ANd then there's facebook.... and twitter..... Aaaahhhhhh....

    To be able to communicate for an hour last night with a man who earns nearly $1000 A MINUTE...

    Me - in a little village in England, communicating with him in the US... How would I EVER get that opportunity?

    Blessed and deeply grateful indeed.

    Thanks Sir Knight.

  15. I do not have a large family or even extended family - and some of my family does not live near by. I am in NH - I have a brother in OR, family in FL and my own adult children live in NYC and Boston. Due to today's technology we are able to "know" each other a little better - even when we cannot see each other. The cousins have been able to meet and communicate through facebook, etc. "Once upon a time". . . . they would only be a name - never an actual person. Now they can share and discuss life and know each others growth - even turn to each other, as someone they trust.

  16. Typing this out on my little Blackberry, knowing that it'll reach across the world to my friend, Randy, in seconds and everyone else in this circle of more friends around this blog, expanding the reach of our hand of friendship beyond what I could have imagined less than one generation before me!

    Have a great day, my friends!

    kh

  17. Randy - Amazing Ordinary?

    I know that you do NOT ever dwell on the negative - Please put a postive spin on this - Yesterday a Federal Judge awarded $720,000.00 to 3 VICTIM property owners and 1 VICTIM business owner - average $180,000.00 each - Not a bad day's work (sorry to use that 4 letter word) - This verdict may open the way for 100,000 more to file suit - let's see 100,000 law suits X $180,000 = $18,000,000,000.00 - Eighteen Billion Dollars :(!!! A true feeding frenzy for the VICTIMS & of course their attorneys :(!!!

    Randy Gage - As of right now you are the only person that I know of that has offered any criticism whatsoever about the VICTIMS who chose to remain BELOW see level with a catagory 3+ hurricane headed their way - Instead of taking care of themselves - they expected the Government to save them.

    God Bless America and God Save Us All from the Political Elite.

    Yes I do feel somewhat better now that I've vented!

    Randy Gage Thank YOU for all that you do!

  18. I am appreciating Internet access since I am wthout it this week.
    On Monday, I am going with some friends to eat dinner with an Amish family...seeing a very different lifestyle.

  19. Yes, yes, yes, it's all great and grand, indeed beautiful in its own way, But I had the chance today to have breakfast with one terrific friend and dinner with another. Good ol' conversation face-to-face over good food...THAT'S amazing ordinary.

  20. That is sooo true! I have always lived away from family and I see so much difference in the way I can communicate with people long distance! There were days where I would talk to family members a maximum of once a week on the phone for about 10 minutes. Now I can be on Skype all day long and "virtually" live with them! I'm always so grateful for these "ordinary" wonders! Thanks for reminding us!

  21. Uber easy question Randy. Just one of the many things I can appreciate is the Internet and Social Media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. No explanation necessary 🙂

  22. Funny you mention this. Just the other night, I was holding my four year old daughter, whispering into her ear about how blessed I am to learn from her.

    I gently touched her ear, and followed the outline of it. And it struck me. The perfection of her little ear.

    Talk about noticing and being grateful for the little things. Both of my children are healthy. Their little bodies and minds are perfect.

    I've recently been dealing with some minor back challenges. After over 30 years of competing in sports, this is the first real 'injury' I've had to deal with.

    So at night, while nodding off to sleep I imagine healing at a molecular level.

    Then it hits me. Everything in my body is working in synchronicity. Pefectly, with fluidity.

    Little things can be the biggest things, huh?

  23. I will always find the concept of the internet amazing. That I can send an email to Malaysia and it can be read a few moments later is mind-boggling. I'm on twitter at 4 AM and people in Australia are off work. I can't understand how I got along before I sent my first email in '99.

  24. I am amazed to the cyberspace. The internet. U see what u get, tons of information which is helpful. It is a matter of choice where U go and search for some real thing. As an Information technology, I used internet to enhance my skills and belief. I found out RG website when I am pressured to search what it takes to be succeed in any area.

  25. I've always been amazed at the human body's resiliency. I do a MUCH better job of taking care of myself these days - but after years of constant dietary abuse, etc. just waking up refreshed this morning and taking a deep breath of fresh air amazes me. I have NO idea how the human body continues to pull off the miracle of life on a daily basis.

  26. Our brains are the biggest miracle ever. As I witness my parents' journey into Alzheimer's I am grateful for my own brain functioning as well as it does; am amazed at how quirky their brains can be in this altered state and I am giving thanks for the cure that some tremendously blessed brains will create!

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  • 33 comments on “The Amazing Ordinary”

    1. I agree with you, Randy. Technology is truly amazing, and I would imagine on most days, many times a day, someone says 'what did we do before email?' or 'what did we do before computers?' or 'what did we do before Twitter?' But today, as I sit between my 2-year-old daughter and my 5-year-old son who are watching 'Oswald' as I type this, I appreciate this time. Ordinary time...kids watching TV, mom on the laptop. Nothing spectacular, nothing crazy. Just a mellow morning. We are all doing something to fill the senses (and let me be clear...TV time is very short-lived in my house. Just a way for me to get a few things done, then we're off to do something fun together away from the TV!). But for now, I will continue to appreciate this time. Thanks for the reminder!

    2. As a prior secretary, I was totally amazed with the fax machine. I must say, we are blessed daily. 🙂

      To keep up with all this computer technology is a challenge daily!!! LOL

    3. Given that over a billion people won't even eat today this is a vital message. Lots of us love to complain (with good cause usually) about lousy service, stupid airlines, idiotic government behavior, yadda yadda yadda. Every once-in-a-while we just need to sit down, shut up and look around at the miracles we've grown so complacent about.

      As another blogger pointed out some time back, "You're sitting on a chair 40,000 feet up in the air traveling at 550 miles an hour! Not getting a pillow the instant you ask for it seems a little silly."

      A good Baptist "Amen" to you today Randy!

    4. Absolutely Randy! I am airline pilot, was flying over London one nice day last year and it suddenly hit me that modern air travel is a miracle! You can get in this tube and a few hours later you're in a completly difference country thousands of miles away!

      Trouble is it's become so "routine" that we forget that our ancestors could barely do the same 50 years ago, let alone 100 years!

      OK yes air travel has it's trials and tribulations with mindless security checks, delays etc but let's rejoice in the miracle too!

      Robert

    5. Good afternoon :o)

      Actually, I think that anything we get used to becomes ordinary in our perception after a while.
      ...it takes a conscious effort to notice things for what they really are. ie:Rush hour traffic can be an entertaining city tour with beautiful buildings that silently guide us through the evolution of architecture waiting for us to notice, enjoy, and appreciate them for providing us shelter, comfort, entertainment and joy... although most often they're seen as big insignificant clumps of stone.
      ...if we slow down enough, we can see that so many things that accomodate our daily lives complement the genius mind, the collective effort and the intent to contibute; and everything that may have seemed ordinary until that point becomes amazing.
      ...and ordinary people only seem that way, too...they are really amazing :o) They're the ones who are always there.

    6. You know I was just thinking the same thing ,I was in Wisconsin
      in the morning and ct buy that after noon up dating my twitter /jdavidmoffitt shameless plug , and face book I just love the power of all this, We live if the greatest times spread joy not fear, We have so much power ,
      Thanks for doing what you do

    7. I still can t understand why a airbus fly. How Internet can process my communication instantly 1000ns miles away.
      But it works neither i understand it or not and that calms me.
      Those magic items gives me quality time I can spend in ie three days in monastir ?
      Good subject Randy

    8. Nature is amazing..

      People are amazing..

      Thoughts are amazing since they create our reality..

      And yes, technology of all sorts, electricity, light impulses, hydrogen cell cars, robotics, lasers, nano technology and so many other advanced ideas are all amazing..

      And they ALL come from the human mind which is the most amazing of all!

    9. Hello Randy,
      You are absolutley correct. Technology is amazing and forever
      changing. The sun, moon, stars, rain or shine remains the same.
      Nature is amazing to me and the billions of cells in our bodies
      that keep us alive. Take a deep breath and give thanks to the Creator of the Universe.
      Peace and Blessings to All
      DG

    10. What is truly amazing is the amount of food that we consume in this country and how many people there are consuming it and yet, whenever we go into the super market, there are all those rows and aisles of fresh quality meat, produce and other food with hardly any empty spaces anywhere!

    11. Very true words spoken here by the man himself. Thanks Randy, great reminder for us all to appreciate the wonders we have been able to put together from the basic resources our planet and the universe have given us.
      But what truely boggles my mind is the fact that, if we have managed to come so far and produce so much in the last hundred years or so (phones to TVs and fax copiers and air transport are all relatively new forms of technology) then where will we be a hundred years from now? Or even 10-20 years from now when most of us will still be alive and prospering. With no apparent slow down in the rate at which technology is advancing, what new forms of technology are going to be changing our lives in the near future as drastically as some of the above examples have already done?
      Looking forward to wittnessing what the human mind will be creating in years to come, whilst enjoying all of our present wonders.
      Peace, love and prosperity.
      Brendan (Marbella, Spain)

    12. Sometime around 10 years ago telcom and the internet began to merge. What was once waiting for the time for the price to go down to call became no cost at all. I have local phone numbers in CA, FL, MN, UK, ... for pennies a month and it costs nothing to call virtually anywhere in the world and I live in South America.

      Given how fast technology is changing and the rate it expands at the same time... "Beam me up, Scottie" may be closer than anyone realizes.

    13. I believe we take for granted the abundance that surrounds us every day in this country. You are never more than a mile or so from some food source, or shelter, warmth and safety. What amazes me the most is when these needs are met consistently, some folks start creating their own obstacles to overcome (hero's journey), rather than turning their attention outward. If more would turn their attention to the mysteries that are not yet solved in this world, just think of the marvels that could manifest for the future. 🙂

    14. My best last month?

      Calling some awesome dude on his cell phone as he walks to board a flight I think in Singapore...

      That my phone can connect there to him.. as he looks for his flight.

      My daily best?

      My tumble dryer, dishwasher and washing machine. The amount of time daily it saves me!!!! I do feel so humbly grateful!!!!

      ANd then there's facebook.... and twitter..... Aaaahhhhhh....

      To be able to communicate for an hour last night with a man who earns nearly $1000 A MINUTE...

      Me - in a little village in England, communicating with him in the US... How would I EVER get that opportunity?

      Blessed and deeply grateful indeed.

      Thanks Sir Knight.

    15. I do not have a large family or even extended family - and some of my family does not live near by. I am in NH - I have a brother in OR, family in FL and my own adult children live in NYC and Boston. Due to today's technology we are able to "know" each other a little better - even when we cannot see each other. The cousins have been able to meet and communicate through facebook, etc. "Once upon a time". . . . they would only be a name - never an actual person. Now they can share and discuss life and know each others growth - even turn to each other, as someone they trust.

    16. Typing this out on my little Blackberry, knowing that it'll reach across the world to my friend, Randy, in seconds and everyone else in this circle of more friends around this blog, expanding the reach of our hand of friendship beyond what I could have imagined less than one generation before me!

      Have a great day, my friends!

      kh

    17. Randy - Amazing Ordinary?

      I know that you do NOT ever dwell on the negative - Please put a postive spin on this - Yesterday a Federal Judge awarded $720,000.00 to 3 VICTIM property owners and 1 VICTIM business owner - average $180,000.00 each - Not a bad day's work (sorry to use that 4 letter word) - This verdict may open the way for 100,000 more to file suit - let's see 100,000 law suits X $180,000 = $18,000,000,000.00 - Eighteen Billion Dollars :(!!! A true feeding frenzy for the VICTIMS & of course their attorneys :(!!!

      Randy Gage - As of right now you are the only person that I know of that has offered any criticism whatsoever about the VICTIMS who chose to remain BELOW see level with a catagory 3+ hurricane headed their way - Instead of taking care of themselves - they expected the Government to save them.

      God Bless America and God Save Us All from the Political Elite.

      Yes I do feel somewhat better now that I've vented!

      Randy Gage Thank YOU for all that you do!

    18. I am appreciating Internet access since I am wthout it this week.
      On Monday, I am going with some friends to eat dinner with an Amish family...seeing a very different lifestyle.

    19. Yes, yes, yes, it's all great and grand, indeed beautiful in its own way, But I had the chance today to have breakfast with one terrific friend and dinner with another. Good ol' conversation face-to-face over good food...THAT'S amazing ordinary.

    20. That is sooo true! I have always lived away from family and I see so much difference in the way I can communicate with people long distance! There were days where I would talk to family members a maximum of once a week on the phone for about 10 minutes. Now I can be on Skype all day long and "virtually" live with them! I'm always so grateful for these "ordinary" wonders! Thanks for reminding us!

    21. Uber easy question Randy. Just one of the many things I can appreciate is the Internet and Social Media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. No explanation necessary 🙂

    22. Funny you mention this. Just the other night, I was holding my four year old daughter, whispering into her ear about how blessed I am to learn from her.

      I gently touched her ear, and followed the outline of it. And it struck me. The perfection of her little ear.

      Talk about noticing and being grateful for the little things. Both of my children are healthy. Their little bodies and minds are perfect.

      I've recently been dealing with some minor back challenges. After over 30 years of competing in sports, this is the first real 'injury' I've had to deal with.

      So at night, while nodding off to sleep I imagine healing at a molecular level.

      Then it hits me. Everything in my body is working in synchronicity. Pefectly, with fluidity.

      Little things can be the biggest things, huh?

    23. I will always find the concept of the internet amazing. That I can send an email to Malaysia and it can be read a few moments later is mind-boggling. I'm on twitter at 4 AM and people in Australia are off work. I can't understand how I got along before I sent my first email in '99.

    24. I am amazed to the cyberspace. The internet. U see what u get, tons of information which is helpful. It is a matter of choice where U go and search for some real thing. As an Information technology, I used internet to enhance my skills and belief. I found out RG website when I am pressured to search what it takes to be succeed in any area.

    25. I've always been amazed at the human body's resiliency. I do a MUCH better job of taking care of myself these days - but after years of constant dietary abuse, etc. just waking up refreshed this morning and taking a deep breath of fresh air amazes me. I have NO idea how the human body continues to pull off the miracle of life on a daily basis.

    26. Our brains are the biggest miracle ever. As I witness my parents' journey into Alzheimer's I am grateful for my own brain functioning as well as it does; am amazed at how quirky their brains can be in this altered state and I am giving thanks for the cure that some tremendously blessed brains will create!

    Leave a Reply to Jhanna Dawson Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


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