The NORMALITY Project: What is ‘Normal’?

Jan. 8, 2013 - PRLog -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtJCGGMUa5Y
Are you a normal person? And how do you know?

In my book CONFIDENCE EXPLOSION (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Confidence-Explosion-Destroy-Explode-Through/dp/1907611908/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1), I explore and discuss the notion – the illusion – of “normality” and what the majority of people in our society have be led to believe “normal” means.

What a lot of people refer to as “normal” is actually the expectation they hold of us to be a certain way – to think a certain way, to behave a certain way, to say certain things and to hold certain beliefs. And, if our fundamental way of operating in the world doesn’t match this expectation that they hold, they think of us as “not normal”.

But where does that expectation come from to begin with?

I have always been fascinated with the idea of what people consider to be “normal”. We often hear others speak about people being either “normal” or “not normal”. But how can the state of “normality” be accurately measured? What is the standard or the benchmark for doing so? Is there even a universal standard for “normality”?

What I have come to know is that there is in fact no universal standard for normality at all. How could there be? No defining basis for comparison exists. People are people; and the nature of humanity is that different people have different tendencies, different interests, different likes and dislikes, and different ways of approaching what they do. We look different, we have different ways of dressing, we speak differently, we move our bodies differently and we communicate in different ways.

The only way there could ever truly be a generic state of normality in the world would be if everyone operated in exactly the same way. But then we wouldn’t be human anymore – we’d be robots!

So if someone tells you that you don’t seem “normal” to them, do not take offence at such a declaration. In fact, assume this to be one of the greatest compliments you could ever be granted! After all, if you’ve been described by another human as not being normal, all this person is really telling you is that he doesn’t recognise you as fitting into the “majority” – the mass of individuals who are so afraid to be who they are that they have instead settled for behaving in the manner they’ve been conditioned to behave.

“Insist on yourself; never imitate. Every great man is unique.”

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

And because you know that there really is no such thing as “normal” anyway (because there are only humans, who, by default, are not the same as one another) you can only interpret this kind of remark as a way of someone else confirming that you’re not afraid to be who you are. This is good news, of course! It’s evidence that you’re on the right track!

For a person such as this – through his lens of myopic perception – he has bought into the belief-system that all people have to fit into one singular category of constrained and inhibited human beings, or else there’s something terribly wrong with them. For him, being “normal” is, essentially, about existing as a controlled and conditioned robot: this means

that people must do exactly as they’re told, behave as the masses do, eat only what others eat and think only what others think. They must also never ask questions, never dare to embrace what is unique about themselves, never say anything unexpected and never challenge authority.

They must be willing to move through life happy to have their thoughts, behaviours and beliefs programmed and instilled into them from the outside. And – if they do all of these things – then, and only then, can they ever stand a chance of being considered “normal”! How’s that for a meaningful, rewarding and fulfilling life?

What a person like this doesn’t see is that being a robot – and therefore denying our true nature – is as far from “normal” as we can get! What’s “normal” about limiting and repressing our uniqueness so much so that we become homogenous zombies? Where’s the personal freedom in that?

Ultimately, We can either think for ourselves; or we can have our thinking done for us by the influences around us. As long as we are consumed by the opinions other people have of us – as long as we make what other people believe about us more important than what we believe about ourselves – we will never truly be internally free.

Authentic confidence develops as a result of cultivating the internal strength that enables us to be independent of the imposition of the constructed world; to fully claim the gift of our unique presence.

Forget about trying to be “normal”. By now you know this is an illusion.

Instead, allow yourself to come to rest inside of the full embodiment of your own uniqueness – that core essence within you that makes you divine and special and irreplaceable.

Make this the fundamental way you show up to life. When you do, wonderful things await you.

Be Magical,

Julian James