Excerpts from Community and Growth
Love doesn’t mean doing extraordinary or heroic things. It means knowing how to do ordinary things with tenderness.
This week’s excerpt is another short one, but one of my personal favorites. We have a wall hanging in the office that displays a paraphrased version: Do ordinary things with extraordinary love. Our society is obsessed with achievement. While there are benefits to a meritocracy, it creates an intense environment of competition and self-improvement.
At the end of the day, what matters more? What you did, or how you did it? Maybe you raised $5 million for children’s cancer research – that is a noble feat. But what if you raised the money through coercion and blackmail? Is the size of the gift as important then?
Another interpretation of this excerpt is that every action matters. A smile at a stranger, hugging a friend, telling someone you love that you love them and everything in between – it all matters. What is critical is intention. With the right intention, ordinary things can be extraordinary.