"Normal"

Becoming fully ourselves requires some degree of courage. It will sometimes mean that we are ready to stand out among the crowd and break with convention. Human beings are emotional before they are logical with a fundamental drive which looks for acceptance by society but as we get older that tends to go away upon realizing that people aren't all that clever (some blithering idiots) and much of the foundational aspects of our society make no sense. 

Failure to complete this process of independence will lead to frustration as we age. We have seen behind the curtain, understand some of the inner workings and yet are still paralyzed with fear of being singled out by people who turn out to be perfectly stupid. 

This is a deeply depressing thought. 

Failure to find one's own authenticity is like not completing our journey into full maturity. We end up with stunted psychological growth which stops us from breathing. 

I used to ponder on the idea of "normal" until I realized there was no such thing but instead a timid pack mentality which keeps many people from progressing into authenticity.