We saw Bam Margera jumping cars, building towns out of mobile homes, and professionally skating and thought “Man, what freedom! I wish I could do that. That’s extraordinary.”

We see Kim K et al jetsetting, taking fabulous beach pics, and sunbathing all over and think, “I wish I could go all over freely. That’s extraordinary.”

We hear about soldiers going around the world to bases, protecting interests, embarking on dangerous missions, and sometimes being awarded for it and think, “I wish I had just an ounce of that bravery and panache. It’s extraordinary.”

Extraordinary appears to surround you, everywhere.

Even if not the soldiers and celebrities of today and yesteryear, it’s our friends having wild parties, travelling all over, and doing what we perceive as “interesting things.”

Our lives are incredibly interesting upon inspection.

To someone else, they may view us with contempt and jealousy over our lack of addictions, lack of responsibilities, or lack of “excitement,” longing for a routine and they just don’t know how to articulate it.

If you traveled from one strange country to the next day after day for a tour, do you honestly think you would find the 10th country interesting? The 20th? 50th? 

Probably not.

Their beauty paired with your work and team would becoming a swirling mania of loud noises and colors, an unenjoyable deluge of endless sensations, like a massage gone on too long to the point of bringing discomfort or numbness.

And think how much you enjoy a good trip to the zoo when you haven’t been in 2 or 3 years. Isn’t it a real treat?

Or when you haven’t really been to a mall in a few years? It’s a blast.

The idea that you’re “just” ordinary or boring is a perceptual misstep. It’s wrong.

You are a living, breathing miracle. An amalgam of atoms with a history that’s purely unique to you. 

You may not be a celeb or famous speaker, but to your children, your parents, your spouse, or your coworkers, you are more important than you know — and far more interesting than the celebrity.

Stop viewing your life through a lens of self-poverty.

Life is beautiful and diverse if you spend just a moment inspecting.

Follow for daily philosophical meditations.

These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”