Define Ordinary Life

What does it mean to live an “ordinary” life? And who gets to define it?

Some people are told that a typical life, working 40 to 50 hours a week, returning home, watching TV, and repeating the cycle, is something to escape from. But such judgments ignore the deeper truths behind how we each arrive at our realities.

Statements that push us to strive for greatness can be motivating, yes, but they can also alienate. Not everyone has the same starting line. We live in a world of vast inequality, seven billion lives shaped by drastically different circumstances. Some are born into opportunity. Others into warzones, displacement, generational poverty, or systemic oppression. Many survive day to day with no choice but to endure.

So again, what is “ordinary”? Is a refugee's story less worthy because it isn’t spotlighted on a stage? Is a single parent’s perseverance any less extraordinary than a CEO’s?

I don’t believe any life is ordinary.

Each of us is shaped by forces we didn’t choose, our history, environment, and the circumstances we’re born into. But within those realities, effort matters. Choice matters. Some people rise not because the path was clear, but because they kept walking anyway. Others survive unimaginable conditions through resilience alone. The fact that so many continue to breathe, to show up, to strive, that is not ordinary. That is extraordinary.

Instead of asking whether your life is impressive enough, ask yourself: Am I doing the best I can with what I have? Am I showing up? Am I causing no harm? Then that is already something worth honoring.

We don’t live ordinary lives. We live different lives. And difference does not mean lesser.