Defining "Normal"

“Normal” now there is a word I have heard so many times and especially in the past few weeks. What is “normal”? Normal is defined by dictionary.com as follows;

1. conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.

2. serving to establish a standard.

3.Psychology.
a. approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment.
b. free from any mental disorder; sane.

4. Biology, Medicine/Medical.
a. free from any infection or other form of disease or malformation, or from experimental therapy or manipulation.
b. of natural occurrence.

5. Mathematics.
a. being at right angles, as a line; perpendicular.
b. of the nature of or pertaining to a mathematical normal.
c. (of an orthogonal system of real functions) defined so that the integral of the square of the absolute value of any function is 1.
d. (of a topological space) having the property that corresponding to every pair of disjoint closed sets are two disjoint open sets, each containing one of the closed sets.
e. (of a subgroup) having the property that the same set of elements results when all the elements of the subgroup are operated on consistently on the left and consistently on the right by any element of the group; invariant.

6. Chemistry.
a. (of a solution) containing one equivalent weight of the constituent in question in one liter of solution.
b.pertaining to an aliphatic hydrocarbon having a straight unbranched carbon chain, each carbon atom of which is joined to no more than two other carbon atoms.
c.of or pertaining to a neutral salt in which any replaceable hydroxyl groups or hydrogen atoms have been replaced by other groups or atoms, as sodium sulfate, Na2SO4.

–noun
7. the average or mean: Production may fall below normal.

8 the standard or type.

9. Mathematics.
a. a perpendicular line or plane, esp. one perpendicular to a tangent line of a curve, or a tangent plane of a surface, at the point of contact.
b. the portion of this perpendicular line included between its point of contact with the curve and the x-axis.

Okay I had no idea the definition was that long so please forgive me. I will focus on the first definition in number 1 because it seems to be the simplest. “Conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.” This makes sense and in Gamblers Anonymous we offer talk about gambling like “normal” people or being able to gamble “normally”. However; it is certain in my mind that my “normal” is very different than that “standard” which applies to most of the world’s population. With this stated I have had a difficult time understand the world “normal” over the past few years. In California (which is where I reside) one of the propositions on the ballot is the abolishing of same sex marriage or as it is commonly known as “Proposition 8”. I have been searching for the reason why this has become such a hot issue and for the life of me I can’t seem to understand why.

I am prohibited from voting in the upcoming election because of my status as a parolee; thankfully I get back my voting rights when my parole is complete in March of next year. However; I am still very much interested in the election and the entire proposition associate and if I were to vote I do have an idea as to which levers I would pull. I had a conversation with a very dear friend about this Proposition 8 and the word “normal” seemed to come into play. When “normal” comes into to play it is very hard to formulate an argument. I have thought more about this and I do believe it has a great deal to do with “conditioning” than anything else.

I have been conditioned in many facets of my life and now thankfully I am conditioning myself into a life of recovery. This is a wonderful life and I am eternally grateful. How does this correspond with Proposition 8 I’m not really sure but I will try to make a point. I believe “normal” can change over the course of a lifetime as I am getting used to an incredible new normal. It is possible that people are threatened with the proposal contained in Proposition 8 which could create a whole set of conditions. Frankly I don’t see the problem with this and I don’t believe it would lead to ruination of our society.

Maybe spending 19 ½ months away from the free society has caused me to have liberal leanings but I try to have an open mind; for the life of me I can’t see the other side or the potential alleged harm all of this would cause. If same sex marriage is taught in the schools so be it maybe our conditioning will change from fear to acceptance. Acceptance is a much better way to live than living a life in fear.

I am off of my soapbox!!! I had a very good day today which started out with a very good 8 mile run. Yes, I was back running after taking one week off. The run felt great and next week will commence the training program for my 8th marathon either in Phoenix or here in Southern California. I am blessed to be able to have these options available and my life continues to get better and better with each passing day.