Step Nine for an Extraordinary Life: Act Like a Tourist
It couldn’t have been more obvious we were “not from those parts.” Wearing comfortable clothes. Lingering, in no hurry to get somewhere. Tilting back in slight back bends (our mouths agape) to marvel at the height of the skyscrapers surrounding us.
Ok, we exaggerated the last bit just to be silly. But yes, my parents and I were the quintessential tourists in New York City. We stuck out, even in a sea of other visitors, even in a city where we definitely weren’t the weirdest thing on the street.
It’s one thing to embrace the tourist persona while on vacation but another thing entirely to embrace it as a part of the daily routine. Living the extraordinary life doesn’t mean you have to take trips to far-flung places, it means making the most of the life you already lead…fully taking in the moment and finding the wonder right before you. In other words, acting like a tourist.
It’s a bit of a cheat, but my family lives in Colorado. So it sounds easy to act like a tourist when mountains watch over our every move. And it could be, absolutely. But it is possible to become immune and not notice the beauty that graces every day. For example, on another family vacation in Alaska, mountains rose up out of clear blue water. It was amazing. I recall one morning having breakfast overlooking such a scene and my mom remarked to the waitress, “You must love seeing this every day.”
The waitress just grunted and shrugged. Really, I’m not kidding. Her response suggested she simply didn’t see it, or see anymore, what an amazing place she lived in (or that she was bugged by people acting like tourists and interfering with her work). This encounter has stuck with me all these years and when we moved to Colorado, I worried that I, like the waitress iin Alaska, would eventually not see the great beauty around me. I even voiced this to someone soon after we moved here and she told me:
You won’t. I haven’t. I’ve lived here all my life and still love the mountains.
Namaste. A view after early-morning yoga.
I won’t lie: it’s been work. Days will go by when I haven’t acknowledged Perins Peak on my way into town. Or noticed how the mesa behind our house glows red at day’s end. But then I remember the waitress from Alaska and the Colorado native and get back on track. I make sure when our steam engine leaves town on its majestic crawl up the valley, I stop and pay attention. And take in my daughter’s enthusiasm as she runs to the street corner to wave the train off on its daily adventure. Sometimes we are the only ones in view who stop to appreciate this steel and coal parade. Locals probably think we are tourists. And that’s perfect. Because we are.
Take a moment each day to marvel at the your everyday world. You don’t need mountains and coal-fired trains to find something amazing right before your very eyes. Appreciate the smell of rain as it falls. Observe a tree as its leaves transition from green to yellow and orange. Marvel in how your pillow feels as you drift off to sleep. Because it really is the small things. Appreciate it all as if having those experiences for the first time, and you’ll remember how extraordinary the world really is.
(Photo of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Train courtesy of Chuck Black Photography)
