Extraordinary!

Ever heard the refrain, "The only difference between extraordinary and ordinary is a little extra.?"

I thought about this throughout the weekend as I watched the NCAA college basketball tournament where you lose one game and you go home. 64 teams started the tournament on Thursday with hopes and aspirations that by Sunday night, they would considered "extraordinary." About 650 players (most of whom we have never heard of) had those same exact thoughts.

Well, it is now Monday morning and only 16 teams and 170 players remain. The others we have quickly forgotten about. No matter how famous or how hyped, they have been erased from our memories with either a blow-out loss or a last second shot shattering their hopes and dreams.

Case in point: Davidson. A college none of us had heard about until Thursday. A team seeded #40 out of 64 teams. A team that most (if not all) thought would've been gone in the first round, tucking their tails, and going back to......well, who knows which state? This looked to be the case. Trailing by double digits to Gonzaga (8 years ago no one knew about the mighty Zags) and basically on their way out the door, Davidson turned to a 6'3 sophomore guard who decided he go from being "ordinary" to "extraordinary."

Stephen Curry scored 40 points (30 coming in the 2nd half) and looked unstoppable and eventually led Davidson past Gonzaga into the next round. His play was remarkable and he was the talk of the tournament; however, like most Cinderella stories, the clock always strikes midnight.....right? After all, Davidson would have to come back on Sunday and play one of the best teams in the country: Georgetown Hoyas. This storied college team had been to countless final fours (including last year), won a championship, and was currently ranked #6 in the country. Basically #40 vs. #6. The end was definitely near for both Curry and his Davidson squad. It was the classic: "David"son vs. Goliath.

For most of the game, Davidson and Curry looked very "ordinary." Curry had scored only 5 points and his team trailed 48-33. Game over right? Slingshot broken, rocks running out, and the Gonzaga game looking like a distant memory. But that's when Curry decided to start throwing the rocks instead. He scored 25 points in the 2nd half and before Goliath knew what hit him, he was falling to the ground with a thud and "David"son was celebrating its 2nd miracle win in a row.

These type of stories are what make this tournament the greatest tournament in the world. Ordinary players and teams that we've never heard of (all of a sudden), with a 3 point shot or a clutch free throw down the stretch, become extraordinary. We might never hear the name Stephen Curry again but for 2 games he can lay claim to being.....the best college basketball player in the world!

Metaphor for life? Maybe. How would your life be different if each morning you woke up and asked yourself the question, "What can I do today to turn my ordinary life in an extraordinary one?" We can all become "extraordinary" moms, dads, wives, husbands, co-workers, and homemakers. I believe all it takes is......"A little extra."