Normalcy

"Things are only as awkward as you let them be." I find that this is my morning mantra because I do weird things all the time. The other day, I was dancing around to no music, and, as if that wasn't weird enough, I managed to dance my way into a poll. Don't judge me. Everyone has inadvertently run into something at some point in their lives. I just do it more often than most people. And I could have looked at the floor with my wide-eyed, Bambi look, which would have made people who didn't know me feel awkward. I laugh it off. I'll joke about myself and move on. Anyone looking is probably going to forget what happened in the next couple of seconds anyway. As long as you don't see it as awkward, it won't be awkward. Besides, if you're allowing yourself to be labeled, you could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anything that you say you are, you will become. This mostly goes for children who get an early diagnosis for ADHD or something of the sort. They believe that they are not "normal" so it significantly lowers their self esteem because they cannot be equal to their peers. But what is normalcy? How do we define it? It is only defined by yourself, so you can change that definition if you so choose.

By Victoria Arroyave (12th)