To Be Normal

A conversation I had a couple days ago was about the idea of not being normal. Because the normal person ends up broke. With the majority of Americans not saving and unable to live within their means it leads to the majority of Americans being overweight and broke. Why are so many people concerned what others think of them? It’s the idea that to be average and “normal” means you will broke and overweight. Because of this I was shouting in my typing in this conversation DO NOT BE NORMAL. The normal person fills their homes with stuff. Impulse purchases, things he/she bought on sale and only used a couple of times. I am not naming anyone here, but I find it frustrating how many people never challenge themselves to be better. They accept their life as “It is what it is”. (I hate this expression with a burning passion of a hundred worlds burning from global warming)! So many people end up broke because they never learn how money works. They never learn how to do anything other than churn the wheel of work and spending. I am not trying to rant here, but this was the conversation I had. Maybe I’m coming to the realization that I don’t care for people complaining about what they don’t have, or saying they can’t, because sorry, life is not fair. The only person you need to care for is yourself. This is not me being selfish. I work my ass off to ensure that I am taking care of myself. I am striving to not be normal. If you feel so inclined, I urge you to go to your local mall and look around at all the semi-conscious people who are walking through these shopping centers. Really take a hard look at how they hold themselves. Are their shoulders back? Heads raised proudly? Or are they slumped over shoveling baskets of fried food into their mouths, guts hanging out over their belts?

I want my rallying cry to be against normal. To be against doing what people expect you to do. “But why are you getting rid of all your stuff?” they ask as they think I’m the insane one. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to end up living a life that amounts to nothing. I want to grab these people by the shoulders and shake them like a bible thumping preacher expelling demons. NO ONE IS GOING TO FIX YOUR LIFE! The only person who can truly make a difference in your life is yourself. You are not poor, rich, unhappy, fat, skinny, by accident you are all these things because of your lifestyle because of the choices you make on a daily basis. So many people fall out of the womb and simply let life happen, content to linger in the thoroughly tracked treads of past people. “Well, my mother never did this and my father was overweight” so I’m just going to be more of the same. No. If you want to stop being poor learn how to be wealthy. If you want to stop being fat go to the gym, learn how to eat better. This is the modern age where no longer is information horded by an elite few. If you are unhappy, learn how to make yourself happy. Your success should not be measured by any other person’s metrics. What do you value? What do you determine success to be? Traditionally, this might mean having kids getting married etc. The big house on the hill. How many people do you know who are married and happy? How many people actually work towards being better every day? Do not simply exist to die. In this process of taking stock and removing things from my life, I feel like I have discovered some kind of a secret and I want to shout it from the rooftops, but so many people do not care. So many people are already mired in their own woeful existence.

Just think of all the billions of people who have ever been on this planet. How many do you think mattered? Not trying to sound harsh here, but how many people leave a legacy and are remembered? So many people exist simply to die. Semi-conscious of the fact that their gut is growing. That their bank account is slowly depleting. Unwilling to make a change, unwilling to turn away from the enviable crash that will be the train hitting the proverbial wall. It is not too late to make a change. Do not be normal. Because it is overly evident that being normal (in America) means being broke, overweight, and unhappy with life. If you want to make a change you have to make the change. Take stock of your life. When things get out of hand make small steps to make a change. Start by finding a book, or look through a closest. Sweep out a corner of a room. Do something! Because, to not do something is normal. And normal means waiting to die. Live a life of purpose. As Bob Dylan said, “We’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls”. You need to shake your own winds and shake your own walls. The things that don’t ,matter will crumble like silt into the sea, and you will be left with a stronger foundation on which to stand.