Have you found your extraordinary?

Or… Shake up your life with a plot twist.

If you were extraordinary, you’d have to wear those purple suede cowboy boots hidden in your closet that you bust out when you feel sexy and want to dance to Beyonce’s “Texas Hold’em.” 

But being extraordinary means you'd have to live up to your values and most secretest dreams and... what the heck? How do you figure out what your values and dreams even are? Let alone find the time and energy to pursue them?

You’ve got potential, baby. You know it. But admit it: you treat your potential like a scary ghost lurking behind those unopened moving boxes stacked in the attic. You: "Oh, I couldn’t possibly climb that rickety ladder and poke my head into the shadows; what if it sees me?" 

Well, it’s time to bust out the Ouija board and make contact. 

Here’s the scalding tea: being extraordinary isn’t about leaping tall buildings in a single bound or wearing your underwear over your trousers (though, apparently, the cool LA women aren't even wearing their trousers, just strutting around Beverly Hills in their underwear). Extraordinary is as simple as flicking off the autopilot mode. You know, the mode that plops you down in front of Netflix every night with an enormous glass of Malbec, Baby Reindeer waiting at the ready to soothe you? (I mean, it could be worse, right? You might have failed as a comic while getting stalked by a maniac).

You know when you’re slaving away at the corporate life only to realize you’re on a high-speed train to the unbreakable glass ceiling? No? Oh…that was me. I bashed my head against that ceiling while avoiding the drunk sales manager’s invitation to admire his first-class compartment. Yeah…I’m multi-talented. Quitting a six-figure salary and leaping off the train into the unexplored wilderness seemed crazy, but it worked. I found my extraordinary.

Comfort is as cozy as those first-class compartments (without the sleazy sales guy), but it’s about as exciting as that Civil War documentary your husband’s been begging you to watch. So why do you cling to comfort? Because, darling, comfort doesn’t require high heels or hiking boots. It doesn’t ask you to dance on tables or flirt with failure. Or face a challenge that makes your stomach fizz like an Alka seltzer. Comfort is your old, fuzzy bathrobe that should’ve gone to Goodwill last year (along with those unopened attic boxes, I might add).

"But I like comfort." You insist. "I know what my week, month, and year will look like. I know how to distract the sales manager with a tequila shot. Comfort has no unpleasant surprises."

Okay, I believe you. Not. If you love comfort, just ignore that gentle nagging at the lining of your gut. That's just lactose intolerance. Don’t let it bother you that when blow-drying your hair every morning at nine, you see the years piling on your face and your dreams drifting further behind you. Are objects in the mirror truly closer than they appear? 

So come on, my Heroine. Make a choice. Are you the bathrobe-wearing, Netflix-watching, popcorn muncher who watches your life pass by like one of those "slow burn" movies that promise a climax that never appears? Or are you the plot-twist queen, throwing popcorn at the screen, screaming, "I own this story!"

Let's not wait for the movie's end only to realize we were supposed to be the main character all along. It’s time to pull on those cowboy boots, yank your underwear over your trousers, and fly into the narrative you deserve.

JOURNAL PROMPT:

"Old Man (Woman), look at my life. I'm a lot like you were." Are you stuck, stagnant, and letting your dreams fly by? Tonight, grab your journal and a pen (or a quill if you’re feeling extra dramatic). Write a journal entry as though you were thirteen years old again and watching a movie about the life that kid expected you to live at your current age. What did your young, vibrant self think you'd be doing? Where would you be living? What would your day be like? What are your relationships? Then take a good long look. Are you close? Or do you need to step outside your comfort zone? Tomorrow, you start shooting. Action!