Our Changing Normal

"There is nothing permanent except change." - Heraclitus

Each of us encounter changes in our lives on a fairly constant basis. Change is really the one thing that seems to remain constant in our life. I have experienced many changes in my lifetime and as such had to adopt a willingness to flow with those changes.

This has been especially true when it comes to my job in the high tech industry. For over 35 years I have managed to remain employed even as the industry continues to evolve rapidly. The last thirty years have been with one company, so suffice to say the young guys are probably putting me into the dinosaur class.

But I am still here, keeping up with the changes.

In all of my year, I have had to adapt as many of you have in your lives. I have paid a personal cost due to changes and decisions made which were not expected. As it is said, one decision begets another, so on and so forth.

Yet all of us survive and push through.

Many times I could have wallowed in a negative attitude, complaining about all that was happening around me. Doing so would have left me lost in a sea of change. To feel you have lost all control can make it difficult to pull out of at times.

You struggle to find one bit of good through the maze of confusion.

And once you find the good, it becomes your focus and the goodness grows. To have a positive attitude helps tremendously and it will guide you through the bad times. It will help you get safely to the other side.

I am reminded of dialog from a movie called Tombstone, in which Wyatt Earp is telling a dying Doc Holliday that all he ever wanted was a 'normal' life. Doc Holliday responds to him by saying, "Wyatt, there is no such thing as a normal life. It's just life."

The same is true in our own life. There is no such thing as a normal life because life will happen around you. That is the normal part of living. How you react and respond to that 'normal' will determine the type of life you live.

Choose to live it well. Choose to live it in a positive way.

Stay inspired my friends!

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

- Charles R. Swindoll -

Define Normal For Me

“Short is short and Tall is Tall. You are what you are. That is all!” ― Stephen Cosgrove

I was asked once what it was like to live a normal life. The person asking this question had experienced a fair amount of ups and downs in the past. I knew it was a rhetorical question but it did remind me of a quote from Wynonna Judd who said, "My mom always said normal is just a cycle on the washing machine."

Our lives are just that, anything but normal.

If we were to start detailing what a normal life is, most everyone would probably have a hard time coming close to it. I suppose what a normal life is could be defined as 'evening out the highs and lows.'

But like a roller coaster ride, ups and downs will occur.

To me that is what a normal life will consist of; ups and downs and circles and squares. The goal in respect to ups and downs is to create an attitude that will not drag you too low or too high when these things happen.

To ride through the best and worst of times will eventually cause the ride to even out over time. The lows will be easier to deal with and highs will seem som much better. We will get to live life more balanced, more normal in our own kind of way.

Normal is your life and how you react within it.

The roughness of circumstance will ease and if the right attitude grows, your life will lift a notch higher. Expect that life will have ups and downs; everyone else has them. Just know you will carry through and life will get better.

Normal is your normal.

Stay inspired my friends!

Adjust Normalcy

"When circumstance causes change, it requires you to adjust your normalcy." -Joe Primm

Life can be a series of ups and downs; causing your world to change from what could be considered normal. Loss of a comfortable job, health issues or a marriage can drastically alter what you are used to.

People will attempt to fight the changes, trying to maintain a life that will never be the same. Recently a friend of ours passed away after a very long battle with cancer. Her fighting spirit was always inspirational (and remains so) to people around her.

It is said that during one point in her battle of descending health, she realized that what was once normal could no longer be. Her remark to a family friend was that she had to 'adjust her normal'. Her new way of life had to become normal, had to become her everyday. And she accepted and adapted to her new every day life.

When life throws its curve into your path, when the normal is no more; you have to accept and move on in acceptance. Adjust your normal and get on with living your life.