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The Normal Life

It's so cool to me to watch life come together. 
Maybe it was just that up until now, I've always been younger than I am now (which sounds duh) but I've always felt kind of like I was looking up and watching everything happen above me.  In movies, in books, in America (I spent most of my growing up years overseas).  It always seemed distant.  It's always seemed like the normal lifey things happened to people that weren't me.  And I mean, it's not like I'm trying to say I live some kind of movie/fairytale life now.  Nope.  It's hard sometimes and it hurts sometimes, but other times it's so happy and soo exciting I could just burst.  The thing is though, life has always been doing that.  There's no secret I've found that unlocked the kind of life that people in books or movies seem to enjoy or not always even enjoy-just the kind of life that other people have. 
Hey, maybe it's just cause I've always been weird.  Probably.  But I'm still weird-we all are.  That's sort of at the crux of what I've realized about life.  It's not that I've finally hit some checkpoint in the road of life that signifies my being a normal 21st century 21 year old.  I think it's actually that I've realized that there is no normal.
The more movies or shows I see and books I read, the more friends or experiences I gain, I see that there is no one standard for what a life is like.  The events, relationships, experiences, belongings and time each person has are all different.  It's not a destination that anyone can look forward to and eventually arrive at.  Some things take time and there is a season for everything.  There are two options really.  The first is that you're always looking ahead or behind for the destination or season that you esteem higher than the others.  The other is that you realize it's not about getting anywhere in particular, but as cliche as it is, life is the journey.
I think that when we realize that and can thank God for where we are right now in the journey, that is when we willl enjoy life as much as we can in whatever our current state may be.  I've always thought the normal life was something special and worth aspiring to, but I've never valued the life I have as much as when I realize that loving God and others and being content with the life I have makes for a great life. 

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