someone i know

someone i know is doing something extraordinary.

i don't mean extraordinary in the lame, patronizing, watered-down sense, either. i mean it in the litereal beating-the-odds not-many-people-manage sense of the word. extra-ordinary. it follows, of course, that a person who does extraordinary things is an extraordinary person.

the extraordinary thing about this person is not necessarily what she's doing, but how she's doing it, and the results she's getting. the extraordinary "thing" she's doing is, actually, comprised of many sub-things. none of the sub-things is, by the numbers, particularly extraordinary or even difficult. lots of people manage to do them.

the unusual thing is that she's making them work.

anyone can get a better job. she took a better job while going to college.

anyone can go to college. she's going to college and getting good grades.

anyone can "watch what they eat". she's taking control and losing weight. if you think that is easy or ordinary, have a look at your friends and neighbors.

anyone can whinge about their lack of resources. everyone is limited in some way. she's taking what she's got and making the best of things.

in fact, she's doing better than that. she's paying off her debts. very soon she won't owe nothin to nobody. think that's common? easy?

there's more, of course, much more. she's learning piano and the flute. she's reading intellectual books. she's hiking on her own. none of these things, taken alone, is extraordinary.

what's extraordinary is that she's doing them all at once and succeeding.

i'm involved a little in advice-giving and some motivation, but i'm not involved in the hard part, the actual doing. that's all her. i don't know what the name is of me emotional response to all this. it's a big one. it's kind of like pride, but pride should be reserved for the fruits of owns own labors. pride-by-proxy, perhaps.
perhaps it is awe or amazement.

in any case, i'm amazed by the incredibly positive changes she's making in her life, the success she's having, and the results she's getting.

and i get to see her tonight :D