Some of you will have already walked down this road before. This blog will then simply be a reminder to you. The reminder is to avoid judgment, labelling others, gossip, comparison and work to be extra-ordinary ... and to look closer at what normal really is. It is also a reminder to practice a larger scope of acceptance for the differences, gifts, talents and Way of viewing things. We are richer due to our diversity; working together, we can create wondrous things.
In these times, we have a labelling disorder!!!! Perhaps we can come up with a label for this and place it on those who tend to label others excessively and even inappropriately. Then we can place this into the big book of labels! By the way, this book is getting to the point where any one of us having a difficult time could be found in its pages ... with an appropriate medication (often prescribed by psychiatrists and doctors) to go with it. Have you ever seen this book? The DSM ... Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Published by the American Psychiatric Association ... APA. There is much written about the pros and cons of this book and its use, so you will still find many people using it (incorrectly and unnecessarily at times) and others who claim it is creating much havoc in the arena of counselling, psychiatry and the general public (school system too). It is not the purpose of this blog to focus on this ... just for your general awareness ... look into it more deeply if you wish ... we are here today to go over the basics about what we consider normal and how this can create unintended consequences ... specifically in the way we view things and people.
As we could write a book about this topic, this blog can only a peek into this area to bring some light into it. I like to encourage people to look more deeply in any areas they find interesting or necessary to explore deeper for any reason ... especially if they have been labelled or someone they know has ... really do your work ... explore all options and all possible sources of information and ways of looking at things ... finally, trust in your inner sense.
My heart especially goes out to the children; many truly gifted (albeit in their own way) children are labelled due to the fact that their talents and interests lie in areas not valued as equally important in a society and school system still mostly ruled by logic and linguistic aspects. There are other talents many of these children have that often go unnoticed. There are many examples of this in the stories of adults who were once labelled in various ways and who are very successful today.
Ever consider what normal really means? In statistics, a normal distribution is a bell-shaped curve .... once calculated, when one looks at this curve, the majority of the people studied fall in the center of this curve. Let's say it is IQ or the intelligence quotient that is studied. If you were to look at the normal distribution of this, most people would fall into the center of this curve and so, being taught this, the average person now says that it is normal to be a person who falls into this category. Well, according to the numbers, and their definition ... it is.
Ok, but what does all this really mean? Are we to strive to be normal? Did you know that it is getting to the point that it is normal to see an obese person ... child? Is this what we should strive to be? It is normal to find fast food restaurants in every city. Is it healthy for us to be eating there? In some countries it is normal for a husband to beat and abuse his wife - even to kill her if she commits adultery. In certain areas (and you might be surprised at the illiteracy rate in North America!) it is normal to be illiterate. Check out the numbers yourself!
It is normal to find highly unconscious people in every neighborhood - people who think they are awake just because they are out of bed ... while they feel, see and experience very little of reality ... living from their necks up ... shallow chest breathers ... armoured with tension bands all over their body which can be easily read by a trained eye..... and over-loaded by stressors which they find unable to cope with (how many people feel this is just normal and part of life, as they go on pretending all is well in their world? ... you might be surprised ... or not!) ... loaded with caffeine, sugar, alcohol, overall unhealthy diets, lack of exercise, and other stimulants ... did you know this is normal? Are you one of these normal people? We don't have a label for these people, because it is normal!!! Yet they are ill in a different way ... a way we do not label yet. Does this sound harsh? It is what it is. These things would easily fall into a beautiful standard normal bell curve, and we can all go on in this way feeling very good that we are normal!
Did you know it could be considered normal to be anxious, depressed ... neurotic in some way and on some sort of medication these days? Ask any counsellor working in the community how many of their clients are or have been on some sort of mood altering prescription. The percentage is very high in many communities all over the world ... so high that it is common to find people coming in asking for these mood altering medications since they have heard so much about them. I am one of these counsellors and have experienced these things. Will this be the new norm? Isn't it already so?
How the statistics are arranged in order to determine this is one thing (how the standard curve came to mean what it does to us...not the subject here)... IQ tests have had their share of debates to contend with - in terms of what it is we are really testing with them and whether the Intelligence we are measuring really should be given the measure of attention we have given it - particularly in the school systems. Other researchers have asked ... Do these IQ results always relate to success in life? (which is another subjective area) ... How I define my successfulness in life may be different than the way you define yours... who is to say which is better or correct ... or the proper measure for success in general? Yet look around us and see that it is so.
We are told what intelligence is - based on scientific and statistical mathematical results based on tests. Who designed these tests? What measure of intelligence is used? Who determines that this is the standard by which we should be governing ourselves and our schools and the future of our planet? ... which one can see by analyzing the specific questions on these tests ... is this what we consider intelligence? Research alternative philosophies on education and fringe science ... many other ways of looking at education and the developing human exist - one with much more wisdom and given very little credibility in mainstream thought in most places.
Are there other forms of intelligence and ways of being in this world which we overlook and lack appreciating? Are tests used to place labels on people set up to consider these other (and also extremely useful) forms of intelligence? If not, are these other forms of intelligence de-valued? Look around you for the result of the answer to that question; avoid accepting status quo without understanding that which so much value has been placed on. Know and understand deeply what you value... or be honest and say `I do not really Know; however, I am learning more about that now'.
Rather than accept labels, look beyond things and stand on the edge of new discovery ... say to yourself .. there is more we have yet to learn ... We do not know it all - at one point in history, people were killed for professing that the world was round ... NO - IT IS FLAT, they yelled. But they were wrong ... I tell you now .... we do the same today but in different arenas!!!
If we look at what is valued... first on an individual level, then on a family level, then on a community level, then on a global level, we will see where we are at, really. Are we really civilized .... a peaceful species at ease and in harmony with each other and the planet on which we live? What if we totalled all the people on the planet and certain characteristics ... what would be normal then? Would you want to be considered normal?
Consider less about being normal and accepted by the general population. The general population is normal. Consider more about being YOUR potential ... working to improve yourself always ... working to be extra-ordinary. Set your own standards, using wisdom. Be your own person. If someone wants to place a label on you, instead of taking it on, notice that they likely have a label or two of their own to contend with (which they may not even be aware of ... they may be too busy seeing what is wrong in others).
Everyone has areas in which they can improve ... whether spiritual, physical, emotional or mental etc! Walk away, label-less ... if you have areas to work on, take on the Work ... not the label.
