Do you feel like you’re not entirely normal? Maybe you have long conversations with yourself as you’re driving in the car, or you always have to recheck your doors to make sure they’re really locked, or you worry a lot about minor things. And maybe you even try to hide your weird behavior in order to fit in with your coworkers who seem so normal and well-adjusted.
Well if that’s the case, stop trying! Because according to a recent Yale research study, everyone is weird. Your coworkers are weird. Your friends are weird. Your family is weird. There is no such thing as normal.
Uniformity in nature is abnormal. What’s normal is for there to be a lot of variety in people and behaviors. People’s traits exist on a continuum. For example, some people like to participate in risky activities more than others. But there is no optimal or normal level of risk-taking behavior. We’re all different, and that’s OK.
And even something like anxiety can serve a good purpose. If you tend to be an anxious person, it might feel lousy sometimes, but it can help you to be more alert, prepared, and safe.
So the next time you’re feeling weird and sad, remember – you might be weird, but so is everyone else. Embrace your weirdness and try to be tolerant of other people’s quirkiness, because they’re equally weird in their own way (even if they don’t show it).
Stillman, J. (2018, March 19). Yale research confirms what you’ve always suspected: Nobody is normal. Inc. Retrieved from: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/yale-research-confirms-what-youve-always-suspected-nobody-is-normal.html
