Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe beamed with joy as she stepped off the plane onto British soil in the early hours of yesterday morning. Then she burst into tears as she embraced her daughter Gabriella, the pair finally reunited after many gruelling years apart.

Six years ago, Zaghari-Ratcliffe walked into a nightmare. During a visit to her parents in Tehran, she was arrested, accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government and imprisoned. Now, after the British government settled a longstanding debtWhen you have borrowed money and need to pay it back. to Iran, she and another British-Iranian detainee, Anoosheh AshooriAshoori, 67, was detained in 2017 on spying charges. Both he and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe deny the allegations against them. , are finally free. 

Waiting alongside Gabriella was Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe. In extraordinary circumstances, theirs is a very ordinary love story, says journalist Ailbhe Rea. His campaignAn organised set of actions to achieve a certain goal. for her freedom "taught us all a quiet, unassuming lesson about commitment". 

"You can narrate our story as a love story," Ratcliffe told Rea last year. "It is, like all ordinary families are." 

Now, this "ordinary" couple has only one word in mind for the future: normality. After years of prison, solitary confinement, hunger strikes and illness, Nazanin's first act of freedom will not be going on a lavish holiday or eating an expensive meal. Instead, she will drink a cup of tea and look at the toys her daughter has picked out. 

The Ratcliffe family are not the only ones seeking an average life. Millions worldwide spend years pursuing extraordinary experiences, a successful career and the perfect family. But now a growing number of people say accepting being average could be the real secret of happiness. 

The author Catherine Gray was once a successful magazine editor. But the endless parties and even the free trip to a five-star yoga retreat never satisfied her. 

"I was always wanting, striving, seeking the extraordinary, but when I was in the extraordinary, I wanted it to be more extraordinary," she recalls in her book The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary. 

When Gray found happiness again, it was in the "forgotten joy" of normal life, from the gnomes perched in a garden to the sparkle of Christmas lights. 

"The vast majority of us probably put the desire to be exceptional or superior above our own happiness," summarises one columnist. "Being average is not aspirational and it's not impressive. But it might just be the key to contentment."

It is a view shared by essayist Nassim Nicholas TalebTaleb is a Lebanese-American essayist and statistician.. Elite athletes find extraordinary success, but Taleb points out they actually have a lower life expectancy than healthy people who exercise moderately. 

"To be a well functioning human being you must be at once a: mediocre runner, mediocre chess player and mediocre wine taster." 

Of course, extraordinary moments can be worthwhile. One 2014 studyThe study conducted two tests on 50 students. At the beginning of the experiment, half were given a cup of tea, and half a glass of water. The groups were then given creative challenges, like coming up with a "cool" name for a noodle restaurant. found that extraordinary experiences strongly contribute to happiness. But for Richard Ratcliffe, a return to normal is the priority. "I think being alive and holding each other's hands is how we'll get through it."

Yes: If we constantly compare ourselves to others, especially the famous and the wealthy, we will never be satisfied. The key to happiness is appreciating the good things we already have.

No: Many people are bored and frustrated with their ordinary lives. The millions who seek fame, fortune and celebrity each year are clear proof. Success is far from overrated.

Or... What makes someone's life "ordinary" or "extraordinary" is entirely subjective. Moreover, everyone is different - no two people will find happiness in the same way.