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What
is Normal Anyway?©.
by Indigo Irwin Kennedy
Based on Theories from the Book - The Wave Riders ™
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What is Normal? How do we define
Normal? Who defined Normal in the first place?
People have funny notions about
what other people should do. Often, when I find myself thinking,
"She should do this ....." I realize that the thought
is really all about what I need to do. So I try to listen
to my own advice and not push it out to someone else.
What I find interesting is that people base their judgments
of "NORMAL"on some interpretation of what a "NORMAL"
life is supposed to look like, and how "NORMAL"
people should act and live. A problem occurs when the picture
in their mind does not match yours - what if it is your spouse
or child or best-friend that is looking at you as if something
is wrong? What if their assumptions are based on outdated
information?
We can only judge things in
life based on our brains very personal definitions of the
world around us. My assumptions once said that "NORMAL"
people should all want the same things that I do. Yet, around
the world we can see people who are living very happy lives
living in 10 foot square homes raising families. Once, I was
told that something was wrong with me because I would not
stay in one profession for 30 years "like the rest of
the people do", instead I learned a few different professions.
I stayed in each of them for years but moved on when I had
learned all that I could and could go no further. This is
not right to some people, but what I discovered was, that
it was that very divserity that enabled me to get some of
the best jobs in my life and enabled me to bounce back after
financial hardship and to survive difficult economies. The
very person that said those words to me became unemployed
and unemployable when his industry died. He was too old and
too set in his ways to take on a new way of doing things.
I don't want us to judge him but I do want us to look at how
many times we have listened to people just like that thinking
it was in our best interest - they must be right - after all
they are "NORMAL".
Many people believe that everyone
should work Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm and they
often believe that anyone that cannot fit into this structure
must be abnormal. "Waveriders" often do not fit
this normal structure, often have unique ways of doing things,
and can easily be pegged as abnormal.
If you have read The Wave Riders book you know that there
are many levels of "Wave Riding", meaning riding
the high intensity up and happy energy wave or the depressed
and sad low wave. A person might just ride small waves like
the small ripples of a lake, or you might be riding "
the tsunami" of waves where you are so high you think
you have all the answers and then the black depths of the
ocean soaks you up and you remain lifeless, at the bottom
of the wave, without enough answers to save your soul..
Waveriding can be viewed as very abnormal when compared to,
what I term, a natural "mid-wave" rider (someone
who stays midrange never going too high on the wave and never
falling into the depths of depression and has little understanding
of anything other than how they live their lives). The main
structure of our society was originally based on this "mid-wave"
thinking - and that structure often will not work for someone
who must create a different pattern.
Just because something has always been performed a certain
way, does not mean that it should not be periodically reviewed
and the system changed if necessary.
Years back, I decided to home
school my daughter and many of my best friends and "greatest
advisers" were ready to jump in and tell me how much
harm that would do to her social ability. Their idea of home-schooling
was based on some obscure vision of farmers crops that needed
tending, patched clothing and lonely faces of children forced
to work the fields. Home-schooling, in this century, is full
of computer support, online teachers, and groups that socialize
- children of all ages playing and learning together without
the negative social aspects of regular school. Home-schooling
was not what I would have chosen, but it became necessary
in a system that seemed to only work for some and not all
of the children. I am grateful that I chose home-schooling
for my child in her younger years, who later entered high
school and graduated with honors a very happy and social teenager.
The fact remains that many people
judged harshly, without current research and they give advice
based on this knowledge. They can be very dangerous. If you
have ever read Rich Dad / Poor Dad you will understand that
not all that we used to believe will enable us to succeed.
In the Rich Dad /Poor Dad book the Professor (our vision of
success) told his son that he did not know how to be rich...he
knew how to work hard....as he was told. "Work hard and
you will succeed". What we think we know - may be all
wrong.
Today, and everyday, we make
decisions for ourselves based on what we have been told and
what we have heard no matter how archaic that information
might be. "Work 9 to 5 and you will be okay". "Find
a good job and they will look after you", "Work
hard and you will be successful.", "Go to college
and you will earn lots of money in your chosen profession.",
"Work for years at McDonalds because they will teach
you how to make it in this world".
Times have changed and it takes
innovative thinking to succeed in a world, with new technology
changing what we do and how we do it every second of the day.
Whole economies rise and crash in short time frames. So, What
is Normal?
Maybe normal is that which you
are! Maybe you were designed to do what is needed! Maybe you
were designed to move with the flow, to think on your feet,
to watch the patterns and anticipate change. Maybe you were
designed to be a Wave Rider because that is what you need
to be.
Maybe normal is that which you
can be that gives you peace.
The note of caution is that
sometimes "Waveriders" like to interpret this sentence
to "be yourself" as meaning "go ahead and ride
the high energy wave as long as you want" - this is NOT
what I am saying. Doing what comes "Normal" to you
is not that which is destructive to you as well. Riding the
high ride over time is destructive to your mind, your body,
your relationships and your finances. This is not what I am
saying. What I am saying is that "a trained Wave Rider"
who knows how to have both "Creativity & Balance"
may just be the new "NORMAL"
It means that if you like to work 10 hours on the weekend
so that you can take 10 hours mid week that this is a "Normal"
lifestyle. It is different than what other people do and they
might judge that as odd and they may just not used to thinking
that other ways of doing things exist. If you like to work
for 6 months of the year and take 6 off this too is normal.
You just need to design what you do in your life to fit that
lifestyle.
Instead of forcing your "ship
into the bottle"...put the "bottle on the shelf
of your ship".
Be good to yourself and remember
to balance and breathe.
Indigo
PS - Special thank you to a reader of the book that sent me
this note today...I am so happy to help you to love yourself.
Your book is of constant value to me. When I'm up and down,
I remember that I'm a waverider, not a defective human being.
The acceptance and understanding of this fact is calming.
I take a deep breath and love myself for who I am.
Look
for more articles coming in The Wave Riders newsletters.
Indigo
http://www.thewaveriders.com
Respond to this article by emailing
Indigo E-mail info@thewaveriders.com
Click
here to order The Wave Riders Book
(http://www.thewaveriders.com/order.html)
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