“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
In my mind's eye, I was Ernest Shackelton. I was Jim Lovell. I was the 'Last of the Mohicans'. I was bending down to receive my Olympic Medal. I knew what I wanted for my life: the epic, the extraordinary, and the exceptional. I wanted to be the first of something, the last of something, the best of something, perhaps even the worst of something.
No longer. The events in my life conspired both for and against me and my perception of an 'epic life' transformed.
I know now that affairs extraordinary and exceptional lurk in common places. I want to be the man who is loyal to his friends and compassionate to his enemies. I want to be the man from whom others seek counsel. I want to be the man who adopts a needy child. I want to add strength to someone fighting illness. I want to battle and endure for that which I believe in but do so acknowledging that all I accomplish comes from a power beyond myself. I want to glorify God and stand in a place of honor but do so through simple, daily interactions with others rather than through isolated dramatic events.
I still want my extraordinary life, I just want to live it in ordinary places.
No longer. The events in my life conspired both for and against me and my perception of an 'epic life' transformed.
I know now that affairs extraordinary and exceptional lurk in common places. I want to be the man who is loyal to his friends and compassionate to his enemies. I want to be the man from whom others seek counsel. I want to be the man who adopts a needy child. I want to add strength to someone fighting illness. I want to battle and endure for that which I believe in but do so acknowledging that all I accomplish comes from a power beyond myself. I want to glorify God and stand in a place of honor but do so through simple, daily interactions with others rather than through isolated dramatic events.
I still want my extraordinary life, I just want to live it in ordinary places.
— Douglas Schillinger