What Is Normal?

As a person with mental health issues, I always wished to be "normal"and my Mum used to always ask me, " well Maria, what is normal?" and to be honest, I don't know, who does know? How can someone be normal, when everyone is different and unique in their own way, if someone was normal you would look like or act like the majority of people do in the world.

We all work around life in our own ways that suit us and fit us. We don't all go to uni and we don't all work and we all don't get married, however we get told the norm is that we have to do all them things, when that is not always possible because everyone is different, with different abilities. I hate the word normal and how life has to have a normality to things, as sometimes that normality that people have made, may not be realistic for some people, their picture of normality may be completely different to another persons version of normality, and that's perfectly fine, however, some people, as myself, may find it hard to accept that they have to do things different to other people due to their health, physical or mental health. Such as having to remind work places and schools of your disabilities because even though you wish you didn't have to say it, you know you need to as you will need the help, and that's ok, but can be difficult to come to terms with especially after being diagnosed, it can very difficult as you start to separate yourself from everyone else, for example saying things such as "shes normal, I'm not.." or " They can do that because they are normal" . But just remind yourself, you are not different or not normal, because there is no such thing as normal and everyone's normal is different. Your normal can be very different to your friends version and their normal. Even your neighbors vision of normal could be different.

Now, I understand that the word normal can cover a large subject of things such as life and a persons behavior and I do accept that there is no such thing as a normal behavior or life to an extent where that individuals life or behavior can become a threat to others or themselves or become illegal, however, I am just covering the simple forms of normal in life such as working life, education, relationships, especially from a perspective of an person who have mental health issues.

However, half way through writing this my father asked me, " well what makes the extreme things not normal?" and this got my brain thinking a bit more about what is and what is not normal. I guess you could say we have legal norms and illegal forms of normal, where to that individual what they are doing may feel normal, however it could be something illegal and it could effect or hurt an individual. This goes back to my point of everyone's form of normal is different, however some norms and just not meant to be accepted my society and by people, which is totally understandable.

To end this off, in conclusion, my opinion of the word normal is that there is no such thing as a norm but just what we are expected as a society and as people and we have labeled that as the normal of life, but everyone's normal is different at the end of the day in my opinion, we all live life in very different ways that may be against the social norm that has been created and this could be due to physical health or mental health reasons. We are not all the same and we are not all normal. What's your opinion ?