Ordinary Days

I do enjoy reading about and hearing about great things being done.  To me a great thing does not need to be an exploit that changes the world.  Like what Henry Ford did or Edison.  I love these but a great thing to me is a small business that opens and succeeds.  Working dreams.  A great thing can be a personal best.  Going beyond my own expectation and the expectation of others.
Yet for all that so many extraordinary stories do not mention the ordinary days.  Days of building only.  Not days to be written about or passed on from generation to generation.  Reminds me of that plaque that says, “on this spot in 1893 nothing happened.”
Really my experience is that on most days on this spot nothing happened.  But it does seem to me that for the one who dreams on this spot nothing may appear to happen, but something does happen.
It does seem to me that good things are built.  Mostly when something is constructed there are milestone moments for sure, but it is the end product that leaves others agog.  So much construction appears mundane.
Merril and I have built a few things and have had some built.  At first what it is going to be is not obvious at all.  We may know what we want but stage one can reveal very little.  It may have involved sitting down (I like stuff that involves sitting down) and working out that this is what will help, and we can do it.
At least we are excited.  Eventually the end product can be used for what we had in mind.  But each component was crucial.  Nothing was added that was not asked for.  This is especially true of contractors.  Their aim seems to be the least for the most.  Don’t blame them.  Wastage is never a good look.
The thing for me is the end product may be extraordinary, but it was preceded by a lot of ordinary.  Any great true-life story has a lot of ordinary.  People may live long or short lives, but it is generally thousands of days.  Yet what is considered extraordinary is generally a few of those days only.
But the ordinary days were not wasted.  Something was building.  Our swimmers have been winning a lot of medals.  Those days are extraordinary.  Yet they were built on a lot of ordinary days swimming up and down the pool.
I find it too easy to despise ordinary days.  To induce extraordinary.  It may end up extraordinary for all the wrong reasons.  It may be counter-productive to what I had in mind.  There may be no short cuts.  Only in accepting ordinary will the extraordinary I am after come my way.
For sure though it will be worth it.  Graduation is an extraordinary day built on many ordinary days of study.  Days if questioning.  Days of frustration.  Days that are not good or bad but just seem to be time fillers.  Only the expected end keeps me going.
It is up to me to make the most of ordinary days, as if I do, there is no doubt there will be extraordinary days.