I’m picking up this word in podcasts & emails – Normal, as in a normal week when I can get it all done. Or a normal week when life slows down. Sorry! Say what?? I am far away from my school days, but we learned this is euphoria and it is not real life.
So, have we labeled normal incorrectly? Let’s go back to the beginning and think again.
Normal means
(from the online webster dictionary):
as an adjective – that’s a descriptive word – it means to conform to a standard (sounds scary), the usual, typical or expected
as a noun – that’s a person, place or thing – it means the usual, average, or typical state of condition.
But are you picking up a theme here? I am! Normal is what we expect to happen. It is the typical state of our week, the day in, day out of living. At any rate, our dream of a “perfect week” is often far from the normal week.
For me, consequently, the perfect day or week would be a large absence of my ADHD family, they would appear in small, controlled amounts of time. They would behave perfectly with no outburst of any type. I would have large swaths of time in which to accomplish great endeavors of creativity in my chosen talent. This is not my life, it’s a dream, it’s not normal!
For me the perfect day or week would be a large absence of my ADHD family, lol! Then it wouldn’t be my life!
I love my normal life
Undoubtedly, my normal week is being tossed from one activity, to the next; to the next; to the next; until I fall down from exhaustion. Quiet is a lost commodity in my normal days. Another key point, as a newlywed 21-year-old I was very happy with my normal, a quiet week filled with work, quiet evening activities, and sleep. To say the least, marrying a man with ADHD was eye opening. I fought hard to keep my “Normal”, much to my husband’s chagrin.
It was a very hard fight to give up a little of my “Normal” for a little bit of his “Normal”. Additionally, being an introvert added to my misery. Then we had children. The first was a dream; slept all the time. And the second was fussy; always cold. And then the third one we lost; so, all the sadness. Finally, the fourth; was the baby in every sense of the word. In our busy, fast-moving world, I found myself, often without enough down time to process even a little of life as we knew it
But through all the upheaval, excitement, learning and growing I began to piece together some anchors in my day. They were like islands of sanity, with space to breathe, and time to collect my thoughts. Early on it was lunch & naptime. Lunch provided the slowdown before naptime. Naptime was a part of our day for 20 years. After all, even my teenage children needed the break in their day, just as much as I did!
Action!
What does your normal look like? Are you good with it? Or do you need to tweak it?
Take a long minute to think about what’s bugging you, what you can change, what you would love to do differently.
Pray about it! Avail yourself of Jesus’ comfort and love. Ask Him to help and He will change your life.