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81: The Gift of the Ordinary · Banish the Lies: Outsmart Your Inner Critic

• 0:00
  Happy Monday.
• 0:01
  This weekend, my daughter and I had the privilege of celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with my parents and one of my sisters and her kids, and we all agreed it was a really special visit.
• 0:14
  And I've been sitting here thinking about what made it so special, and I think there were a number of factors at play, but probably the biggest might have been just how little time we actually had together.
• 0:29
  My sister and I were traveling from the US to Canada, making relatively long trips for a very short visit.
• 0:37
  In fact, when you subtract the hours we spent sleeping, we had less than 12 hours together, and that's not really much longer than the drive it took my sister to get there in the first place.
• 0:52
  And I think we knew it, going into it, just how precious that time was.
• 0:57
  There was something about knowing how limited that time was that seemed to make us more present.
• 1:05
  As I think about it, we just seemed to really be savoring the time, you know, leaning into conversations, really listening.
• 1:14
  There was a lot of laughter and just genuine enjoyment.
• 1:19
  And I don't think we were just appreciating the fact that we were together.
• 1:23
  We were...
• 1:24
  fully engaged in the experience, and that got me thinking about how our brains have this tendency to place greater value on things that are scarce or rare.
• 1:38
  But here's what I find interesting.
• 1:40
  It wasn't the scarcity that made our time together valuable.
• 1:44
  The value was always there.
• 1:46
  The scarcity just helped us recognize it, and maybe it's that recognition that changed how we showed up.
• 1:55
  So now I'm wondering, what about all the things in our lives that aren't particularly scarce?
• 2:02
  My delicious morning cup of coffee, the folks I work with, the sunrise, things that are so familiar, so readily available that I can move right past them without really noticing or fully engaging with them.
• 2:17
  And I don't think I should have to remind myself that, hey, maybe someday I might not have this morning cup of coffee, therefore, I should be grateful for it now.
• 2:27
  Maybe instead I can just simply more fully engage with the experience of it today.
• 2:34
  The warmth of the mug, the aroma, the first delicious sip.
• 2:40
  And, thinking about the folks I work with, perhaps I can just bring a little more curiosity to a conversation with a colleague, listening fully, just leaning in.
• 2:52
  And I think just engaging differently, just engaging more fully with these ordinary things, these ordinary experiences can change everything.
• 3:06
  So that's my little experiment for this Monday, and I'd love to invite you to join me.
• 3:13
  What might happen if we gave a little more of our attention to the things and the people that are already part of our everyday lives?
• 3:22
  And not because we might lose them someday, but simply because there's something worth experiencing right here, right now.
• 3:32
  And I think there's something rather delicious about seeing the ordinary with fresh eyes.
• 3:38
  Have a beautiful day