also happened to me. Now I understand cause and effect. I understand that my actions cause what happens in my life, both the good and the bad. But this understanding took some time. Once I fully understood this concept, I could do something about my life, such as change my definition of normal.
It took some time, but I have redefined my understanding of normal. I now believe that everybody defines normal for themselves. Normal, once defined, becomes part of my new belief system, which in turn dictates my actions. My actions will determine the consequences. I have learned that consequences are not always negative. They are simply the next step in the process of life. They are not punishments or rewards; they are perfectly impersonal and just and are perfectly normal.
Quite often I know what the consequences of an action will be before I act. If I fail to put gasoline in my car I will eventually become stranded in a place where I do not want to be. I know if I put my trash out on trash day, it will “magically disappear” and I won’t have to put up with the smell of rotting garbage. I know these things. They are part of life. Every day is full of things that happen very naturally—very normally. You could say that recurrence is what defines my new normal.
I now include myself in my new definition of normal. What a concept! Everybody else is just as normal as I am today. I came to this new definition by simply looking deeply into who I am, what I like and dislike, what I want and need, and how I look, think, act and feel, and have decided to include me in what I believe to be normal.
Since I have come to the conclusion that I am normal, what does that make everyone else? I now believe that everyone is normal in his or her own way. We all have talents, abilities, character defects, and shortcomings. Everyone acts a little goofy from time to time. What’s the big deal? After all, if I can be normal, anybody can be normal. To those whose achievements make them seem like they are “above” normal, like those listed above, I now give the title of “extraordinary” or “exceptional.” This is a very simple way to be inclusive. No one is actually above or below normal; some people simply scale greater heights. I thank God for every one of the exceptional or extraordinary people in our world. These extraordinary people gave me electricity, fast transportation (on and off the ground), refrigeration, and all the modern conveniences I rely on today. However, just because these people reach heights I have neither attained nor wish to reach, they are not any more or less normal than I am. They still have to sleep, eat, drink, wear clothes, shave, shower, brush their teeth, and so on. When I boil it all down, we have much more in common than not. They are simply normal people who have achieved extraordinary accomplishments. If I continued to spend my time and energy getting drunk or high, I would not be able to achieve anything extraordinary. As my life improves, extraordinary can become more ordinary. Extraordinary can become normal. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone were extraordinary? Well, maybe everyone is.
If everyone is normal—including extraordinary and exceptional people—then anyone can be normal. Understanding this, I simply cannot exclude myself from my growing list of normal people, and neither should you. The extraordinary and exceptional people are normal, too, and without them we would have no presidents, no doctors or nurses, and none of the things that make life so convenient. Life would be rough. In fact, we might still be living in caves, because no one would have been extraordinary enough to venture into a new way of life. As I celebrate my newfound normalcy, I celebrate the extraordinary people who have come before me, who are here now, and who will come later. I celebrate just how normal and how human we all are.
I have stopped thinking of normal as some perfect person, place, or ideal. Normal is right here, right now. I must learn to embrace life and live with normal on a daily basis. If I see normal as what other people are and I am not, then I cause myself unnecessary suffering. When I feel abnormal, I struggle to gain normalcy. When I struggle, I am uncomfortable. When I am uncomfortable, I seek comfort. When comfort is unattainable, suffering is unending. I did not enter recovery to be unhappy and uncomfortable. I entered recovery to get away from that misery, not to wallow in it. To be completely honest, if I had to live in misery I would probably go back to drinking, because “what’s the point?” When I drank, at least I knew to expect more misery and more drinking as the vicious cycle continued. Since I no longer drink or drug, I deserve something better. I want to be happy, comfortable, and serene.
Normal is not a form of perfection. Perfection cannot be found on this planet. Nobody is perfect, even all those “perfect people” I used to see everywhere. Normal is not what I want to be; normal is what I am right now! I can take normal with me everywhere I go, and I should, because it is important to be happy and serene, and I can do that if I feel normal. Perfection is not only out of reach; it is crazy to strive for it because if I could somehow reach perfection, I would still not be normal. I would not fit in and I would end up starting the whole cycle all over again.
Probably the biggest fib I have ever been told is: “Practice makes perfect.” Nothing makes perfect. Here is the plain truth: “Practice makes progress.” As long as I practice things every day, like brushing my teeth and doing my job, I will become more fluent in the things I choose to practice. What I should focus on practicing are those things I want to become better at doing. When I say focus, I mean think about what I am doing while I am doing it; it is thought coupled with action.
What do you think about when you are performing the very normal action of brushing your teeth? If you are thinking about other things, you are practicing that as a brushing habit. It will become your normal way of brushing your teeth. If, for example, I decided that from now on, when I brush my teeth, I am going to count the number of strokes I provide for each set of teeth to be sure that all of my teeth get a certain number of strokes, I could do that with ease. It would require only that I make a small change in the way I perform a small chore. Since it is something I do a couple of times a day, over time I could easily adopt this new habit. This new normal way of brushing my teeth would become so automatic that soon I would be doing it without even thinking. I no longer think about how I brush my teeth. Most people don’t. (This isn’t really a big deal as long as your teeth get clean!)
Tooth brushing is a positive habit; however, we often do things out of habit that affect our lives in negative ways. We need to stop to think about what we are not thinking about—and then think about it. Put another way, we must consciously develop an awareness of our actions. Humans are creatures of habit, and becoming aware of our habits is a skill that takes time to develop.
Once I realized this and began to become aware of my habits, I found that my brain remained on autopilot during habitual activities, so I started telling it what to think about and when. One of the directions I gave it was to start watching what I was not thinking about and not consciously thinking about, before taking action. I began to see that some amazing things had been happening without my conscious consent. Some of my thoughts and actions had become so automatic that I was not consciously aware of what I was doing, and so did not act in the manner I really wanted. One automatic tendency I discovered was giving other people credit as being normal for things that are not really too normal, at least not for me. One of these things falls directly into what I call the “Normie versus Alkie Syndrome”: the idea that being able to consume alcohol without consequences is normal.
Normal is different from one person to another, and we all decide what is normal for ourselves. Put another way, we decide that we can decide for ourselves. In accepting this one simple yet extremely important idea, we have made progress toward becoming normal. There is still work to be done, because we may need to redefine what normal really is, and if we are able do this we will become uncomfortable until we become accustomed to our new normal. My new normal includes not drinking alcohol or using other drugs. You can choose a new normal as well. I have chosen this new way of life and I cherish it. I want and need to protect my new sense of normalcy. However, I did not reach this new normal overnight. There was a process involved, a process that I was not even aware existed. It was a type of covert operation that took place in my head, my heart, and my soul. The process was assisted by my sponsor and those I trust in my program. The process surprised me. One
