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I wake every morning ready to conquer the world, taking with me the lessons learned from the day before.   Until recently I did not realize that by approaching each day with this attitude I was living an extraordinary life.    I have frequently been asked “how do you do it?” a question that always puzzled me as I never viewed my life and circumstances as exemplary.  To discover the answer I had to look at my life through the eyes of a stranger.  What I saw was amazing, a life less ordinary.

My experience began several years ago when the life that I was building crumbled around me.   In the blink of an eye I was a single mother without a home or a means by which to support my family.   I literally had nothing but the clothes on my back and the two beautiful children that were counting on me for their survival.   If there was ever a rock bottom experience, that was it.  This was the defining moment, the foundation to the life I lead today.   I was forced to rebuild from scratch and without realization my perspective and approach to life changed.    As hard as it was, I am grateful for the experience as it has given me a tremendous appreciation for what I do have rather than focusing on what I don’t.

I spent four years as a stay at home wife and mother supporting my then husband in his career as a Marine during the tumultuous times of 9/11 and the military campaigns that followed.  Despite the noble explanation, this did not justify my employment gap in the eyes of perspective employers.   Once the initial shock of my marriage failing subsided, I walked into the local welfare office and applied for every benefit for which I qualified.   Doing so took a tremendous amount of humility, but it was truly the only option to get my family back on our feet again.   I was persistent in being placed in a “welfare to work” training program despite resistance from case managers that insisted that “rushing back to work wasn’t necessary”.  I entered a six week program to become certified in Medical Billing.  This training program provided me the opportunity to obtain a job at a local company, with whom I am still employed.

Fighting to get back on my feet was only the first of many battles I have been forced to face.    The years to follow included my daughter’s diagnosis of Asperger’s, a form of autism.  My son was also diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD).     I have two very special, and from what I’m told, difficult children.  If I had not been an advocate for my children with their schools, physicians and caregivers they would not be as happy and healthy as they are today.   I continue to fight for them, and know without a doubt that one day they will grow into successful and happy adults.  They are brilliant, noticing the details in life that I overlook all too often forcing me to view life from a different perspective.  I am truly blessed.

I didn’t stop at balancing the demands of being a single mother and working full time.   I also attended school full time obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree and eventually a Master’s in Business Administration.   After completing my MBA I felt as if I had lost myself and sacrificed far too much over the years to get ahead, I was quite literally bored.   I have started chasing my dreams again and in the process realized that in all the years of focusing on rebuilding my life and raising my children I never lost myself, I had actually found myself.  I was better and stronger than ever. I had learned to live an extraordinary life.

It was not the circumstances that led to living an extraordinary life, as I believe that it is within the power of each and every person.  Everything that I have faced and endured was merely learning to live with the right perspective “the hard way”.  Living an extraordinary life is about the attitudes that we face each and every day with.  No matter what your life circumstances are, your life is most certainly extraordinary.  It is the realization alone the causes us to rise above an ordinary life.    I challenge you to wake tomorrow ready to conquer the world.

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