Being Normal

Have you ever just wanted to be normal? I used to want to be "normal." I think most of us have, at some time, wanted to be normal. So then, really, most of us, at some time, have just wanted to be average. Then, truly, most of us, at some time, have just wanted to be mediocre. Why? 

Normal people fit nicely inside bell curves, those nice little graphs science uses to show you how you compare with other normal people. In our society, being normal is encouraged. It is the standard that we measure ourselves and others against. Have you ever commented that someone you know is just "not normal?" I wonder how miserable, or how happy, that "not normal" person was? Just a question to make you ponder.  

Like I said, I used to want to be normal, but I don't anymore. Normal people are really just average people, or mediocre people. Who wants to be mediocre? Normal people, or average people, don't stand out. They just go with the flow of all the "normalcy" around them. They are just "there." 

What does this have to do with health? Everything! In this country (USA), it is normal to be obese. It is normal to be in pain. It is normal to get winded when you walk up a flight of steps. It is now normal to see motorized shopping carts at your local mega store. What have we done? It is normal to be obese!  It is normal to remain sedentary - to dream of moving rather than actually engage in moving. This is one bell curve we just don't need to live in! Do you know that there would be no health clubs if we would embraced our lives and our bodies like we were meant to? Exercise would truly be a foreign concept. It is still a foreign concept, but it shouldn't be in this "normal" world. 

Being an outlier, or a weirdo, is where life is at! Outliers stand out! Outliers get noticed, outliers are probably really enjoying their lives; especially, if outliers live on the right side of the normal curve. If you really want to enjoy your life and live it, you should strive to be an outlier. Or to put it another way, you should strive to be great.

Being great means doing things other people, normal people = mediocre people, don't do. Being great means taking responsibility for your life and applying your actions to your goals, to your dreams. Being great is hard work. Being great is living. 

Here are just a few ways to be great, to be an outlier. Note, that these simply relate to health, but in truth, health is not isolated from the rest of you or your life. Everything about you effects everything about you!

How to be an outlier:

Don't spend your evenings watching TV. They don't call it the boob tube for nothing. 

Learn how to crawl. Then, learn how to walk. Then, learn how to run. 

Stay out of donut shops, fast-food restaurants, and any other place that adds fat to your belly. - This includes most chairs that you see and own. 

Spend time with your family - outside. Go hiking, make adventures, make memories.

Embrace movement and build a disdain for being sedentary. Sounds weird, but this is what outliers do.

Don't listen to the "news." News will effect your thoughts with nothing but bad, dooming information. You want to be an outlier? You need to protect your thoughts. As you think, so you will be - Proverbs 23:7.

The whole point to all of this is simply to fight against being average. Live your life AND enjoy it. Today, the best way to do that is to become great. It is okay to stand out. You need to stand out. For your health, your family, and your life. 

Have a great week.

TA