Normality! A word that we are using without thinking about its true meaning. A notion that we apply to different people, actions or events, but not because they are really normal, but because WE consider them to be normal.

I am Tiana. I am 53 years old, and I tried to live my life by what I considered to be normal. In my opinion, a lot of it was based on common sense. When I was young, I read Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If”. It went so deep into my heart that I decided to lead my life by it. I tried my best to do so, but in time, I realized that actually I am abnormal by acting like the poem taught me. It was not only the poem which inspired me; it was also my grandmother. I am grateful to her for that.

And yet …

While growing older, or – as some say –  wiser, I have noticed that normal people are the happy ones and the ones with a lot of success. I am not envious, but I am always willing to learn. So, seeing their example, I have decided some time ago to learn to become like them. To learn to become normal. The truth is that when I told this to a friend of mine, he said to me: “If you would be like them, you wouldn’t be my friend”. Hmmm … tough decision to take: keep my wonderful friends, or learn to be normal?

For about 7 years now, I keep trying to become normal. I fail pathetically each and every time because this is not the way I am built.

So then, I decided to tell the world the difference I see in myself versus normal people. I am not trying to teach anyone to be one way or another. I will write here examples from my life, or the life of others, describing situations and both their approaches: normal and abnormal. It is for you, the readers, to decide who did the best, who has most success, who – finally – slept better at night.

Enjoy, and let me know your opinion.

P.S. While searching for a good translation of Rudyard Kipling’s “If” into my language, I was surprised (was I?) to find an “Anti-If” version by Kostas Varnalis. Reading through it, I realized that it is the perfect match for the normal people I describe in my blog.