Pretending Normal

I wish that I could feel normal for at least one day. I wish it were easy to pretend to not have any mental illnesses for one day. I have tried, but the mental illnesses are always under the surface and slightly visible to those who look too closely at me.

Well aside from restlessness, I am seen as normal. It means higher expectations. Otherwise I'm happy about it. Though it makes me want to be normal.

Sending many safe, warm hugs to BOTH you, @lillib, your Family, your Friends and ALL of your Loved Ones, MY WISE AND WONDERFUL FRIEND! You are perfectly NORMAL the way you are - it's just that people have prejudices and preconceptions about what is "normal" and what isn't! However, as long ar you're happy and content with YOURSELF, that's as "normal" as you need to be in my opinion! Please be kind to yourself! I understand your pain! I COMPLETELY agree with what the WISE and WONDERFUL @Aviza has already WISELY and WONDERFULLY SAID BETTER THAN I POSSIBLY EVER COULD IN MY ENTIRE AND WHOLE LIFE! KEEP FIGHTING AND KEEP ROCKING AS MUCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN LIEK YOU'RE ALREADY WISELY AND WONDERFULLY DOING ALL AND ENTIRELY BY YOURSELF AND ALL AND ENTIRELY ON YOUR OWN, MY WISE AND WONDERFUL FRIEND! PLEASE DO LISTEN TO WHAT THE WISE AND WONDERFUL @Aviza HAS ALREADY WISELY AND WONDERFULLY SAID BETTER THAN I POSSIBLY EVER COULD IN MY WHOLE AND ENTIRE LIFE! PLEASE ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOU'RE WISE AND WONDERFUL JUST LIKE EVERYONE HERE IS! I PROMISE YOU THAT, MY WISE AND WONDERFUL FRIEND! THAT'S A PROMISE, MY WISE AND WONDERFUL FRIEND! I AM SURE OF THAT! YOU CAN REST ASSURED OF THAT! I GUARANTEE YOU THAT! PLEASE NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER GIVE UP HOPE NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, @lillib, MY WISE AND WONDERFUL FRIEND! PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE'RE ALL FRIENDS OF YOUR HERE AND THAT YOU CAN PM ME AND ANYONE HERE ANYTIME YOU WANT TO AND WISH TO! THAT'S A PROMISE! I PROMISE YOU THAT! I AM SURE OF THAT! I GUARANTEE YOU THAT! YOU CAN REST ASSURED OF THAT! KEEP IT UP!

On a good day, there are parts of that day where I would say I feel fairly 'normal.' But I know it won't last, because of this illness. I am not ashamed of it. I have fully embraced my bipolar disorder. It is hard to deal with, but so is leukemia and ALS (I do not have either). Most people have hard stuff at some point. Ours just happens to be lifelong and there is no cure for it.

Hey @lillib
"Normal" is a dirty word.

@sarahsweets

Thank you. I needed to hear that.

You can be a loving and compassionate and funny and smart and helpful and interesting and whatever kind of person with or without a mental illness right? You could be a complete jerk and not have a mental illness at all right? Just be the best version of yourself you can be and know that your best could vary from day to day. It’s easy to say and hard to do but worth the effort.

@LilyMop Thank you! I love your perspective! You are right.

The fact that many people suffer from any kind of illness, and that even those who don't suffer from any aren't 'normal' at all, is a good reason to not care about that. There's nothing dictating what's normal, just the individual. There's always going to exist people who think that just because someone isn't normal for them, that person deserves the worst, but that doesn't mean they're right.

I don't allow myself to think I'm not normal, but I allow myself to proudly say I'm different, and that's okay. We're all different, after all.

I don't like the word normal myself. Who gets to define what it is? I don't use it to describe myself or anyone else.

I don't like the word normal Hugs to you

Normal distribution is to majority, as abnormal distribution is to individual differences.

Some assert, normal distribution is to conformity, as abnormal distribution is to chaos.

I like the jokes about paranormal distribution (ghost figure).

Being an outlier simply means being a minority of some sort. The majority may fall within the normal range, depending on what the variable of interest is, but there is a wide range of scores representing differences even among the normal range.