Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Life is full of challenges and frustrations. Some of these are normal. When encountering normal with a person who has not encountered it before, explain to them that it is normal.

I once tutored a young man through a frustrating process at work. In the middle of the pull-out-your-hair and smash-your-head-through-the-wall day, I told him, “This is normal. Expect it every time you do this. No one is picking on you.”

I have found many frustrating experiences in life. Most of these are normal. No one was picking on me personally. They treated everyone badly all the time. Normal.

It is so helpful to know that the situation is normal.

Tell people,

• the first draft being lousy IS NORMAL
• several heartbreaks before you find a spouse IS NORMAL
• most of life’s disappointments and run-arounds and frustrating situations and people IS NORMAL

Work your way through the norm and keep going. That is easier on some days than it is on others, but that, too, IS NORMAL.