Just what is normal?

I'm hearing a lot of folks saying that "things will never be normal again," or "that's not normal," but really, what is normal?

I was challenged on that question yesterday and I figured its a good time to sit down and communicate again to all of you. I know, I'm hit or miss, but in all fairness, my normal life has been a bit taxing lately.

So, what is normal? To me, normal is my husband heading to work five days a week while I stay at home with Mouse, and in the event that the day is a stress-free, flare-free, drama-free day, then I can get some stuff done. Whether its doing normal housework stuff, writing, trying to work on the house or yard is only limited by my stamina and want-to. Sometimes we get to get out and do normal stuff like shopping or going to the movies, but that, again, depends on stamina and want-to. Normal is having dinner and watching Jeopardy together. Normal is putting the dogs out at 10 p.m. because they have figured out how to tell time. Normal is listening to Mouse do her Gregorian chanting as she's walking the treadmill or doing the cat boxes. Normal is removing a cat from the top of my laptop before I do anything. Normal is sweeping up discarded hair from the incredible-sheddables. That, to me is normal. But that, according to a reader on the West Coast, apparently, is not normal. And I don't doubt that.

To those on the south end of the West Coast, over 1k for a 500 sq foot apartment is normal. Traffic at a standstill on the freeways is normal. Seeing celebrities off and on is normal. East Coast, I imagine is much the same.

To most everyone else, I imagine its more of my life rather than the East or West Coast. One or both parents get up, get ready for work, get the kids ready for school and everyone is out the door. They do the 9-5, or whatever the shift is, working to get by, some barely paycheck to paycheck. They sigh at the high cost of groceries and gas, wondering if the 100 dollars they have in the bank will last to the next paycheck. They struggle to keep up with the activities of their kids, trying to balance work and family as much as possible. They stress about the high cost of insurance and the even worse cost of prescriptions, and heaven help them if they have a maintenance drug that is non-formulary. They see the crime, the anger, the form of bullying that the elite pass down via the television and Internet and wonder if they have failed somewhere along the line. But, despite all of that, they spend time with those they love, do the things they can and do what they can to keep life from overwhelming them. That, to them is normal.

What is not normal is waking up and having someone tell you what you have to do today (read: agent, not boss) even though they are not your boss or parent. What is not normal is having someone tell you how to dress, how to wear your hair, your make-up, what to eat, when to work out because you are being watched by the world. What is not normal is having to run from the media because they are fascinated by even your sneeze. The problem is, its our fault. All of it.

We have elevated these people beyond what they should be. We have put them on a pedestal and believed they could do no wrong, and when they fall, we are unforgiving. We have watched, with stars in our eyes, people who are at the top, whether technical, political or Hollywood/Nashville/Motown, etc., and wanted to be just like them. We have made them our idols, our gods and we bow to their whim.

The children of Israel had a similar issue. The bronze serpent, which was initially created to heal the people became their idol. They sacrificed to it, they "obeyed" it. It could do no wrong. God says that we should have no god before Him. Whether it is a bronze serpent or a movie star or political figure, they are all idols. What they do is never normal. They don't have the same reality we do. We work, we scrape to get by sometimes, if we're lucky, we're able to have a retirement fund ahead of time, able to send the kids to college, and have the newest car more often than every ten years. They are in a bubble...one that insulates them from the real world. Their words matter, even to the point that they encourage us to think the same way as they do, right or wrong.

There is one thing that God has given each and everyone of us, and that's the gift of free will and choice. We have the ability to make up our own minds. We have the ability to decide whether we are going to follow God's path or Man's.

With President-Elect Trump's inauguration just a little over a week away, too many people are getting on the bandwagon that says he shouldn't be in the Oval Office. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen, but let me encourage all of you to make the decisions regarding the soon to be new President your own, not that of Main Stream Media. Watch as many live broadcasts as possible, that way when the "fake" news comes up, you are more likely to understand the context and are able to make an informed decision instead of believing what the MSM would have you believe.

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