Daily Mood Quote - May 13, 2011

Daily Mood Quote:

Day Nine- May 13, 2011

I looked for a quote today on “what is being normal” unfortunately, what I found was either negative, or very sad. So, I asked my husband his opinion on being normal, this was his response:

“In terms of human behavior, normal is a fantasy of statistics. We are all different, we are all unique and we are all special in the Creator's eyes.”

~My Husband

During a conversation with my daughter last evening, she shared with me, the diversity she deals with every day at school and wasn't sure what normal was. Silence came over me. I wondered how do you describe “normal” to a teenager? Much like the word leadership, the word normal has many different meanings and means different things to a wide range of people. Here is what I told her. Normal is “what you know.” You see, you know you have two parents, who live under the same roof, who love each other and work together. To you that's normal. You have a friend, whose parents are divorced, they live with one parent and travel to see the other one on weekends and to them that is normal. You and I talk to each other, we listen to each other, we respect each other, that's normal to you. You have friends who have contentious relationships with their moms, they know yelling, arguing, door slamming, and for them that's normal. Normal is what people know, and in every home, every person has their idea of normal.  That normal behavior is passed down from generation to generation, it's what is known to everyone  as "their normal". There is no right or wrong in normal, there is just different. Let's not confuse right and wrong of normal with the rights and wrongs of life. My daughter replied with “That makes sense, that answers a few questions.”

So, normal isn't, well exactly “normal”. As Stockard Channing who played Aunt Frances said to Sally (Sandra Bullock) in the movie Practical Magic . "My darling girl, when are you going to understand that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."

For my family a new normal arises everyday.  Perhaps, we should worry less about normal and more about what is healthy and meaningful.

What is your definition of normal?

Tune in tomorrow to read the Daily Mood Quote