Joy Farrington reflects on the tension of wanting to be a world-changer and the ordinariness of cleaning the toilet.

Joy Attmore

Most days, probably rather selfishly, I have this inner desire to be extraordinary. I say 'most' days as there are definitely ones where I am quite happy to be ordinary and lazy, indulging in back-to-back episodes of my favourite TV shows. But for the most part, I want my days to be stamped in significance, purpose, meaning and beauty. I want to be a cape-wearing, gold dust glittering world changer - no big deal.

In theory, this is a great idea and on paper sounds inspiring, simple and doable. In reality it is those things, but not every day on this journey of becoming extraordinary is it quite like that; they're often very ordinary.

Let me give you a little insight into my dilemma. I'm a UK citizen who moved to the States last year, legally married a wonderful Californian and is now applying for a green card in order to settle here and really embrace the American dream. As a result of this wonderful process and the attractive 'alien' status that I have now, I am not allowed to work until the right paperwork has been processed. Until I receive my work permit, I am also not able to apply for a driver's license, and for anyone who hasn't spent time in LA, having no car can be a bit of a handicap.

It's hard to feel extraordinary when you have no job and can't apply for any, money is on a tight budget, places are hard to access and you're classed by every system as an alien, and not in a cool way!

I have some big visions and exciting ideas that I can't wait to walk out and see come to pass, and I believe will be amazing and extraordinary in their own way, but at the moment they're not quite happening, at least not that I am aware of. You see my days currently look like the following: waking up and working out, cleaning, doing laundry, reading and writing, cooking and eating, meeting people for coffee or lunch, taking part in group socials and attending church meetings. All good things, necessary things, but not altogether that extraordinary. Then I check out my social media sources throughout the day and can't help but question my success in life as I see my friends posting about their 'world-changing' experiences.

Let's face it, sometimes life is a little mundane and we're not living every day out of the Disney castle or from the tops of a snow-capped mountain, but that doesn't make it wrong; that doesn't make you wrong.

When I find myself in these slightly introspective moods where I joke about feeling like a 'desperate housewife' whose not really desperate but just a little bored, I realise that I'm wrestling with that sense of significance or importance. I have always had an amazing community around me who have empowered me to go after my dreams and called out the gold from deep within me, which is something that I am deeply grateful for and believe we need to see more of, but then I can find myself living under this pressure to be constantly doing something incredible and world-changing. The truth is, the key to living an extraordinary life isn't in trying to be extraordinary, it's in loving the one who is truly extraordinary.

I think the people that we look at and admire from afar, those whom we would describe as truly amazing or inspiring, I don't think that they were striving for that status. I think they were seeking to love well, to see the kingdom of heaven come to earth and to see justice roll like a mighty river in their cities and countries. I think they simply chose to follow the call and mandate on their lives without compromise and with all the passion and drive that they could muster.

I'm not striving for headlines or recognition but I am desiring to use my life to see this world changed for the better, to live out in the fullness of what I know that I was created for. So I surmise that it's ok if the most we do in a day is clean the bathroom. The best of puzzles are made up of thousands of pieces and the end result is completely worth those tedious moments of putting together pieces that look exactly the same. I for one am embracing the 'ordinary', shaking off that 'extra' pressure and just doing this journey one simple day at a time, rubber gloves and all.