NEW NORMAL

Freedom Tower Ten Years Later, Internet Domain

My cardiologist detected a minor abnormality in my heart function at my annual checkup recently. He announced that it wasn’t something to be terribly concerned about and that we should just consider it my “new normal”. I considered that for a moment and then had to agree, although I had never characterized or labeled a changing milestone in my life as my new normal, it seemed quite fitting. So I moved on. I’ve since heard a newscaster refer to a world of terrorism after 911 as the new normal. Change is the only constant in this world.

One of the best observations I’ve learned in life is that when we’re confronted with situations that are essentially out of our direct control, our best response is to respond in a positive way. When I lost my wife of forty years, my initial thoughts were regret about all the times that we will no longer share together. But I’ve come to understand that a better response is to recall the times we did have together with a grateful heart. So, I now regard moving forward with the single life and grateful memories as my new normal. And after all, what is normal any way? What exactly passes for normal behavior? What is a normal person? What is a normal relationship? What is a normal life? What’s abnormal?