I first remember reading or hearing this in a quote from Jim Valvano, the North Carolina basketball coach who said “Every Single Day, in Every Walk of Life, Ordinary People do Extraordinary Things.” In 1983 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball championship game his underdog team was pitted against the heavily favorited Houston Cougars, but won right at the end of the game. He later passed away from bone cancer, but, in addition to starting a foundation for cancer research, he gave speeches and made enduring statements such as the one I quoted above.

Of course, you don’t have to be an athlete to do extraordinary things. All of us have the ability to do so. One way is by supporting non-profits and helping lift up others in your community who need your support. Many of you likely do this already. All of us can and should because we all can do amazing things for others.

I look to people like Maria Brunner, who lives in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and runs Insight Management,  a company that focuses on marketing and promotion in the music and entertainment industry. For the last few years, in the free time she doesn’t have, she has convinced bands, promoters, caterers and others to provide her with leftover food from backstage catering that would otherwise go to waste. When they provide her with the leftover food, she personally delivers it to shelters for homeless veterans or other homeless populations. Many times she leaves and comes back while a concert or event she is working is still going on so she can complete the work she is paid to do.

It took some time for me and another person who knows Maria, along with others, to get her to turn her good deeds into a real non-profit, but now Musically Fed exists. In addition to what she has done to help homeless populations in Phoenix, she has convinced some bands and managers to do this on every tour stop in each city. Bands and groups that I am aware of doing this include Fleetwood Mac, the Country Music Association, and others. And I know am missing other bands and groups pitching in

Maria may not be happy that I am telling her story because she is not looking for kudos or thanks for what she is doing. She does extraordinary things every day despite not really having time to do so because it’s who she is and what she does.

If you question how she does all she does and gets it all done, I think you will hear some version of when you see a hill, it always looks worse than it is, so you take it in small chunks. If you approach your days like this you will be able to accomplish more than you can imagine.

I challenge you to find the extraordinary things you can do in your days to make your corner of the world a better place.

I also want to point you to Musically Fed’s website, which is located at
https://musicallyfed.org/, in case you are inclined to support Maria’s fantastic heartfelt mission. You also can contact me for information.

Go forth and do good!!