The same old…

This week I want to examine and appreciate normal.

That’s right…I’m not going to try to inspire you to challenge yourselves, nor am I going to ask you to reach for new levels of self actualization and enlightenment.

Not this time.

Instead, I’m just going to ask you to appreciate and be grateful for your new normal.

What is new normal you may ask?

New normal is simply the start of a fresh day, with the same familiar setting.  New normal is the kind of day you sometimes consider slightly irritating or boring.

New normal is just another day that you wake up to the same old sound of the same old alarm clock, that always seems to go off an hour too early.

Some of you awake to the sound of your crying infant or the bustle of energized toddlers causing a chaos you’re afraid to go discover.

Some of us turn over and look at our significant others and its the same face (maybe just a bit older) we’ve seen pressed against a pillow for many days, many months, or many years.

Everything just seems to be predictably the same.

The same toothpaste.
The same coffee.
The same car.
The same commute.
The same job.
The same boss.
The same house.
Just more of the same old stuff…

…and so we feel discontent.
That is, until something in our predictable, ‘same’ world changes.

Like having no toothpaste…
Running out of coffee…
The same car that won’t start.
Construction on your commute.

These type of changes just make us mad and become the impetus for a ‘bad’ day!

Worse yet, add ‘no job’ or ‘a new boss’ to the mix of normal and we quickly move from irritated and bored, to stressed!

Last week on a plane ride to New York City, I over heard a woman talking to a fellow passenger about her family.

“You always hear about horrible things happening to other people and you don’t realize that you’re not exempt until it happens to you and your family.”  She paused, “Well, now I know that my family isn’t exempt and it feels awful.”

This made me think, “Am I exempt?  Is my family exempt?”
The answer is no.

Nonetheless, we are all vibrant and healthy and that makes me thankful for my normal.

Then I think about what happened this past Friday, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, CT.

Yesterday a father who lost his daughter in that senseless massacre, was being interviewed by the press and he could barely speak amidst his tears.

I could barely watch the interview…it was just that painful.

I bet he’d give a limb to wake up tomorrow to normal and the same old stuff!

So for right now I’m content.
We all should be content.
Because our new normal is typically just more of the same.
In Newton, CT their new normal is tremendous pain.

…and my heart goes out to each one of them.

So to honor the memories of the loved ones they lost, I plan to hold and hug the people I love just a little bit longer than normal.

…and I think you should do the same.

After all…there is something wonderful and surprisingly temporary about the same old stuff!