I remember so many days in my life when I wished them to be ordinary, simply because they were not. I have committed many of them to memory.

One such day was a Fourth of July. At our community picnic, my son was escorting me down the hill to get a beer. I slid on some ice cubes someone had carelessly thrown on the ground. I careened and took flight. I can’t blame the fall on the beer, I hadn’t had any yet.

Unfortunately, ignoring the pain, I continued to party. The x-rays later showed that my femur bone had split because my ankle was broken. Many months and a total of four casts later, I wished for an ordinary day.

I found myself eating cereal off the floor because my bowl had dropped and the crutches had slid away. I prayed for just ordinary day. I had always taken for granted things like getting up and dressing or going to the bathroom. Don’t we all?

Now I try to I just live with sensitivity and gratefulness… I pray in the morning…just an ordinary day. A normal day! It is a jewel!

In time of war, in peril of death, people have dug their hands into the earth and remembered their ordinary days. In time of sickness and pain, people have buried their faces in pillows and wept for this. In time of loneliness and separation, people have become tense and taut and waited for this. In time of hunger, homelessness, and want, people have raised their hands to the skies and stayed alive just for this.

Ordinary day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Or even moment. Let me be grateful to you, for it will not always be so. One day, I may suffer and plead for you because as the Buddha reminds us… “Life is suffering.” May I notice and appreciate your beautiful moments of non-suffering.