The Ordinary Impact

I remember sitting in the passenger seat, while my friend talked to me about performance and value. He eloquently explained that society helps us believe that our performance equals our value, but that thought is inherently wrong (and most definitely problematic). As I listened to him intently, his words clicked with me. I think I had believed this idea for a long time; but as he weaved his narrative around the idea, I passionately grasped onto his message. Performance does not equal value. That sounds crazy. It sounds backwards.  Businesses, organizations, churches, even friends seem to put a premium on performance. If a person’s performance isn’t up to the arbitrary line (set by whoever decides the arbitrary performance line), then the person/employee/friend ceases to be valuable. There’s a problem in believing that performance equals value: it doesn’t account for the fact that every human has value regardless of their performance. All too often people (and people g...

There are so many places in Colorado I like to visit, but the  Garden of the Gods  is one of my favorites. From the feeling of the air on my skin to the majestic views, it is truly an invigorating “garden”. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a garden as much as the Garden of the Gods. However, I can’t help but think that the gods took the easy way out when displaying their gardening skills. It’s as if they thought, “we don’t have a green thumb so let’s take these rocks and call it a garden.” Then I think about how we compare what we do to the achievements of others. Comparison can be a motivator for excellence; yet, all too often, comparison becomes a barrier to achievement. Rather than allowing the greatness we see and experience to inspire us to be the best we can be, we allow the thought “I could never do that” to creep into our mind. We read the words of authors and get convinced that our words don’t compare. We hear about someone’s life experiences...