Something that is normal is usual and ordinary, and is what people expect.
Collins dictionary, Source
In recent conversations, certain behaviors have been defended under the guise of being “normal”.
For instance, it is “normal” to—
- Eat junk food multiple times a week (often, every day).
- Get drunk every weekend.
- Binge-watch entire Netflix series in one sitting.
- Spend upwards of 4 hours a day on social media.
Once the reflexive instinct to defend their ego quiets down, I find it hard to believe someone wouldn’t acknowledge that this behavior is clearly dysfunctional—even if they insist on how “normal” it is in modern society.
Here’s a tell: I’m yet to meet a person who proclaims they aspire to be normal.
Some may pay lip service to it, but a closer look at their browser history tells a different story.
Are they watching TikToks that talk about “normal” ways to make money?
Instagram Reels about “ordinary” tasting dishes?
Are they following the lives of “everyday people” going about their “everyday activities”?
(Twitch streamers living embellished lives with millions of onlookers are not “everyday people”).
If you truly aspire to be normal—and I do not doubt that some people genuinely strive for a “normal” life—then fine.
Enjoy your normalized vices in guilt-free bliss.
But if I hear you complain about wanting to buy something luxurious that you don’t have enough money for, for the status we ascribe to the successful, for the aesthetic body that you see on a movie poster—or anything else outside of the ordinary—then you have outed yourself as a hypocrite.
A hypocrite that uses “normal” as an excuse to defend the vices which you know are holding you back from becoming great.
Greatness is not hereditary.
You do not have to be the person you were yesterday.
You do not have to conform to mediocrity.
Throw away your pathetic excuses.