What the “normal” world will never understand

My wife told me I was getting too esoteric.

But I can’t help it.  My brain doesn’t work right.

I have too many ideas and too little time.

To achieve success, to impact others, you have to have a vision of the world that is uniquely yours.”

—James Altucher

When I started treating addiction people asked my why.  “It’s a choice, not a disease.”  “You can’t help them.”  “They are beyond redemption.”   “They just need Jesus.”  “Aren’t you just trading one addiction for another?”

When we became foster parents people asked us why.  “Don’t you get attached?” “I could never do that.”  “I love kids too much to take them in and give them back.”  “Aren’t you ruining your other kids’ lives?”  “How can you put your family at risk like that?”

I have a vision for the way I want my life to be.  Not a picture.  But a path.  I follow the voice inside.

It’s difficult to explain.  It’s like Taoism:  “The tao that can be described isn’t the real tao.”

People are going to want to put you in a box and keep you there.  That’s just reality.

But if you want to be free.  If you want to have an impact.  Then you will have to realize this important fact……

The path isn’t always clear, it is cleared.

This philosophy has led me to interesting places, and I’ve met some interesting people.  Like a homeless, Nicaraguan alcoholic with Miami gang ties.  A 2 year old with dead beat parents, a vicious temper, and a non-curable medical condition. A 92 yr old matriarch with congestive heart failure and a fascination with my tattoos.  A 16 yr old struggling with gender identity, bullying, and endocrine issues.  An 8 yr old with a silver toothed smile and a congenital heart defect.

Just stay on the path and see how things shake out.

“What’s normal supposed to look like?  No one’s normal”

That’s what a patient told me once, and I think she was dead on the money.

Folks that aren’t in the world of drugs and addiction don’t understand how much work it takes to get clean, stay clean, and live a somewhat normal life.  (But there’s that word again.)

All the religion, medications, meditation,  exercise…..it won’t fix anything.

Because people don’t need fixing.

They just need a few minutes to breathe.  A few minutes to figure out who they are and where they’re going.

So let’s forget about normal.

Let’s focus on something else.

I had this strange dream the other night.

I was watching a movie about a transsexual that lived in a 3rd world country run by government corruption and shady business executives.  A child’s life was in danger. Our gender fluid hero had to break into prison to save the child’s life. You knew that there would be no way out (other than by floating down some river that dropped into a huge waterfall?!?).  Death would be certain.

While watching the movie, my friends told me there would be a plot twist that I wouldn’t see coming.  I woke up before finding out the twist.

The world is a messy place.

Sometimes our heroes don’t look the way we expect.

And the end isn’t always clear.

But one thing’s certain……..

normal ain’t worth a hill of beans….

and ain’t no-one normal.

Peace.

p.s.

Here’s a couple of my videos if you’re into that kind of thing:

What Jesus teaches about Addiction

He Spent $100,000 on Oxycontin in a Year