A Normal Life, or Is It?

As I woke up this morning I felt a sense of relief sweeping over me. I was thinking, things are returning to normal. I don’t feel as stressed about work, Darla and I snuck out for a movie, I slept in until 8 am on a Sunday, Gray is up snowboarding, Katee is heading to work, and things are starting to feel right.  I need to go do the grocery shopping today, and I cleaned the bathroom yesterday so all is good.  I have a small list of around the house items to do, and a couple of bigger projects to consider.  All things considered life is feeling normal.

Then it hit me, “What is Normal?” A few years ago normal was spending the weekend watching soccer games from morning to night, driving all over Oregon to the various games.  It was flying to Florida or Colorado for meetings, it was working downtown, it was planning conferences and raising money. Rewind a little more, and it was watching Cartoons on Saturday morning, or Surfing with friends, figuring out what it meant to be married. What is normal?

Dictionary.com defines Normal as: 

nor·mal  /ˈnɔrməl/ [nawr-muhl] –adjective

1.conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.

As I read the definition I realized I don’t want a normal life.  I might say I do at times, but I don’t want my life to conform, or be common, to become regular.  I want life to be exciting, to be challenging.  I want my life to be anything but usual.  So why do I spend so much time wishing that things would get back to “Normal?” Why do I sometimes let it become normal? Over the last two months I have gone skiing in Canada, rock climbed at a hidden spot in Lake Oswego, learned to cook beef stroganoff, found a photography class to sign up for, danced at a wedding, fallen in love again with my wife, come close to being fired, become more aware of social issues, and the list goes on and on and on. This is not letting life be normal, this is experiencing life, it is enjoying what comes my way.  I sometimes confuse excitement and living, as being busy.  Sure I sometimes need to slow down and regroup, refuel, but I like life feeling like it is pushing me to new places, new things, new heights.  I want an un-normal life to be normal for me. At least that is what I am thinking this morning, as I sit on the couch i sit on every day, drinking my coffee just like every day, and consider what I will do today just like every day. I AM SO NORMAL.