TEDx ConcordiaUPortland

 Our story begins with ordinary, everyday people. They are seemingly no different from you or me, yet at a certain point something happens. An idea, an insight, or a flash of creativity bursts forth, breaking through the surface of thought to become tangible. Suddenly, everything changes. A problem is unexpectedly solved, a missing piece falls into place. They quickly come to realize that what they’ve stumbled upon can be applied; it can be used, harnessed, developed, grown, and spread. It isn’t just another idea, it’s an extraordinary one. And when they talk about it later, they mention how simple it was. The solution was always there, staring them right in the face, but for some reason they just needed an extra push, a fresh perspective. When you look into it a bit further, however, there’s one other element that they sometimes neglect to mention: courage.

It isn’t long until you realize, unfortunately, that extraordinariness doesn’t last.  The next, best idea is always out there, and if you’re not thinking about it then someone else is. Yet there must be a reason why the extraordinary people we know seem to achieve extraordinariness again and again. Have they realized something that we haven’t? Are they truly different from us? What we come to find is that what seems like a secret to us is only something they’ve learned and practiced, something we all can learn—that becoming extraordinary is a continual process.