“I am a happy person.”

Does the above sentence describe you?

We all go through our ups and downs in life, but unless you’re living in abject poverty or are truly miserable in your current job, relationship, or where you live, my hope is that you’re a pretty happy person most of the time.

But last week, as I was editing a story for BootsnAll, I came across a quote from one of our writers, Rachel Denning, on her blog, that really made me pause and think.

“We believe that life is meant to be extraordinary.”

As I often do when I come across philosophical-type life quotes like this, I emailed my wife (with that quote) and asked, “Curious if you think we are living an “extraordinary life?”

Here is her response:

“Dictionary definition of extraordinary = unusual or remarkable. So by that standard, is what we do on a day to day basis extraordinary? No. But are we extraordinarily fortunate to be living the lives we lead? Absolutely. Across the world there are people living in war zones who don’t have the luxury of enjoying the company of their families at all. And there are a lot of them……So while I wish that I could spend all my time with you both [her husband and son] instead of squeezing it in on evenings and weekends, I also have to remind myself that there are probably millions of people in this world who would give anything to switch places with me.

That’s not to say it couldn’t be better. That we shouldn’t be working toward something else.”

A smart woman, my wife is.

Though we were fortunate to have the experience of taking a year off to travel the world back in 2008-2009, here we are, 5.5 years after departing on that life-changing trip, living largely normal lives.

While it is important to remind ourselves just how lucky we are to have been born into our current situations, does that also mean that we shouldn’t strive for more?

We own a house. We have a son. We both work all day, come home, cook and eat dinner, play with our son, put him to bed, get stuff done around the house, read or watch a little tv, go to bed, get up and do it all over again the next day.

Nothing really extraordinary about that, is there?

I do appreciate my wife’s candor and perspective, though. While it is important to remind ourselves just how lucky we are to have been born into our current situations, does that also mean that we shouldn’t strive for more?

Does that mean we should just accept our current lives?

Even if we are largely happy, should we just keep on waking up, doing our thing, rinsing and repeating each day?

Complacency: a feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to try to make them better.

Too many times in my life, I have heard someone from an older generation talk about regret. 99% of the time, it’s regret for things they didn’t do. Regret for blinking and all of a sudden you’re 60, your kids are grown and out of the house, and you haven’t done all those things you dreamed of doing when you were a wide-eyed 20-year-old.

Too many times in my life, I have heard someone from an older generation talk about regret. 99% of the time, it’s regret for things they didn’t do.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

You can change. And there are lots of other people around the world feeling the same as you, and they’re ready to support you and help you.

• Are you a frustrated 19-year-old who doesn’t want to continue down the path that your parents laid out for you? Do something about it!
• Are you a 24-year-old who’s been out of college for 2 years, have a boatload of student loan debt, and aren’t doing what you envisioned when you left for college 6 years ago? Do something about it!
• Are you a married couple in your late 20’s, surrounded by friends who are popping out kids left and right, feeling the pressure to join them, but you just aren’t ready to go down that path yourselves yet? Do something about it!
• Are you a family and feel as though you’re stuck in a rut, frustrated by your current country’s culture and not feeling aligned with your children’s education? Do something about it!
• Are you a recent empty-nester who is wondering where the time went and whether or not those dreams from 40 years ago can be rekindled? Do something about it!

Striving for an extraordinary life isn’t an easy thing to do. Being complacent and accepting your current situation, especially when you’re a pretty happy person, is.

When it comes down to it, you need to ask yourself a few questions. What would you rather do?

• Bust your ass to make your dreams come true and start living an extraordinary life?
• Or just accept your lot and end up having regrets for the things you didn’t do?

Being complacent and accepting your current situation, especially when you’re a pretty happy person, is.

So fill us in. Tell us your story.

Can you can say that you live an extraordinary life?

If the answer is no, what are you going to do about it?

You don’t have to do it on your own. Join our community, and let 100,000+ like-minded individuals help.

Photo credits: kilgarron