Being Normal

What does it mean to be 'normal'? Who decides what is normal and what isn't? Does being normal only mean merely following the social trends, going by the accepted ideologies, and not challenging any of the contemporary ideas and beliefs?

I think there can be no single definition of 'normal'. Something normal to me, might not be normal to you. Something normal to you, might not be so to someone else. Therefore, we cannot really define what being 'normal' is. 

Also, both the terms 'normal' and 'abnormal' happen to be quite disturbing to me. While the term 'abnormal' undoubtedly marginalizes individuals and shuns them from society's usual ways, the term 'normal' also acts as a burden for those who constitute the society. 

This means that people who are tagged as 'normal' can never show the courage of being something different from the mass. They cannot risk being something that society does not approve of just because they have been already categorised as 'normal'. Being different will then be treated as defying the societal rules and encouraging the already 'abnormals' to continue with their 'abnormalities'. 

Society has a crazy way of labelling someone or something as 'normal' and 'abnormal'. The division is very clear and very crude. It does not allow any overlapping. We, as a part of society, do that every single day. As soon as a particular person or a thing does not behave in the way that we have got accustomed to, we tend to tag the person immediately as an 'abnormal'. 

When our new experience differs from the closely held preconceived notions, it gives a serious jolt to our understanding. As we fail to relate the new experience with the old ones, our belief system shatters. We lose the ground where we stand. Hence, we end up losing our identities. 

Here, instead of questioning our age-old beliefs and ideas, we try to criticise the person or the thing and present them with the 'abnormal' tag very easily. This, I think, makes us unresponsive to newer people and newer things. We stop exploring. We close ourselves to newer individuals, experiences, and events. Thus, we hinder our growth ourselves. 

When will we, as a society, welcome being 'different'? When will we stop using the words 'normal' and 'abnormal' and start becoming friendlier and more inclusive towards people and things that behave in their own unique ways? 

Aren't we all 'normal' and 'abnormal' in some ways or the other? Aren't we 'abnormal' when seen from the perspective of the supposedly 'abnormal' ones?