What's Normal?

It’s been long that I haven’t written anything. Today I started feeling lonely as if I am missing something. I was thinking about this emptiness all day. Is it because I miss my family?  Or do I miss my friends? Should I call them? It was none of these as I still felt the same. Feeling of missing something for long.

Sometimes you don’t need to think too deep, the answer is just lying beside you shut down or may be closed in some drawer. Just need to open our diary or laptop and start writing, whatever you want, start with the thought that’s running in mind currently. Initially, we all feel lost but eventually, we all sort things out.

I have been thinking a lot about normality lately. How do we define normal? Is the definition of being normal based on the perception of what is normal to society. Does normal signify to what we see the most or absence of significant suffering?

What we see or consider as normal could be completely odd to others. Normal doesn’t mean "free of discomfort”, it is not the equivalent of oblivious. No one can conclude what’s the right thing to be done and that the right situation to change. We come from different backgrounds, different upbringings, and families. If we don’t agree with something that others like, it doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with us. We’re all entitled to our opinions and tastes. The idea of ‘normal’ is mainly shaped by social standards. The normal emotional gamut or an outburst of adolescence and adulthood is treated as a problem and expect drugs to fix it. It’s okay to feel sad because you caught your mate cheating on you or to grow anxious because you can't pay your bills. It’s okay to be bored and restless because your job underutilizes you. It’s not unhealthy and doesn’t require any medical attention. Most of the time people fear being their self, they wear the mask which is acceptable by the society because if you don’t do so you’re considered to be an outcast or labeled as weird. The definition of ‘normal’ varies from one person to another. Until a few decades ago, it was not normal to have a tattoo or to be a homosexual. It was unthinkable to confront certain cultural norms, but what was abnormal then is now acceptable to many.

Does Normal mean:

1.      Forget who we are and what we want, working from nine till five every day at something that gives you no pleasure.

2.      Waking up each morning to a hysterical alarm clock.

3.      Keeping a smile on your lips even when you’re on the verge of tears. Saying ‘I’m sorry’ for crying.

4.      Following fashion trends.

5.      Be in a bad marriage and try to mend it.

6.      Normal dictates that you ought to be married by 30 with children, as time is running out.