Do you think you are normal?

by jwfacts 28 Replies latest jw experiences

  • serendipity
    serendipity

    I enjoy being unique. However, I don't feel I fit in either, among JWs or the world at large. I think it's because I have to edit what I say or else people will think I'm weird (or spiritually weak/apostate in the case of JWs). Oh well, it's a good thing that I like my own company.

  • beksbks
    beksbks

    Luna I relate to you here. I did grow up a JW, but my family was "weak". I didn't fit into the world, and I didn't fit in with the other witness kids. By the way, those of you who did grow up as a witness, do you realize how SMALL the circle of possible friends was? That's gotta be detrimental to growth. I had a vocabulary that my few friends didn't, so I had to dumb down. Considering my education, that's pretty dumb. Anyway, I ended up in a marriage where I was needed, the only thing that made sense to me. Now, at 45 I am in a relationship with a wonderful "normal" guy, and I'm having a heck of a time finding my place. What value do I have if I am not needed?

  • Highlander
    Highlander

    I've never felt normal. I'm able to fit in with any group and get along with anyone, witness or not, however fitting in, versus finding my 'comfort zone' are two different things.

    I don't have a comfort zone or any group of friends that I 'belong' to. I believe it's my personality and my demeanor that allow me to gain acceptance among all types of people,

    however I'm positive that being raised as a JW has had a huge influence in preventing me from find my 'place'. I never believed that crap about 'worldly' people being evil

    and J-dubs being 'the chosen ones' but I can't deny the long term effect it has had on me as a person.

  • SickofLies
    SickofLies

    Wolfgirl: The definition of Normal, what everyone else is and Gumby is not

    Or if you prefer:

    Definitions of normal on the Web:

    • conforming with or constituting a norm or standard or level or type or social norm; not abnormal; "serve wine at normal room temperature"; "normal diplomatic relations"; "normal working hours"; "normal word order"; "normal curiosity"; "the normal course of events"
    • in accordance with scientific laws
    • being approximately average or within certain limits in e.g. intelligence and development; "a perfectly normal child"; "of normal intelligence"; "the most normal person I've ever met"
    • convention: something regarded as a normative example; "the convention of not naming the main character"; "violence is the rule not the exception"; "his formula for impressing visitors"
    • forming a right angle
      wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

  • Normal is the title of a 2003 movie starring Jessica Lange, Tom Wilkinson and Hayden Panettiere. Directed by Jane Anderson, the plot concerns a middle-aged American man, his desire for sexual reassignment surgery, and the impact of this on his family and marriage.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_(movie)
  • In behavior, normal means not deviating very much from the average; "not normal" is often used in a negative sense (improper, sick, etc.). Abnormality varies greatly in how pleasant or unpleasant this is for other people; somebody may half-jokingly be called "pleasantly disturbed". ...
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_(behavior)
  • In category theory and its applications to mathematics, a normal monomorphism or normal epimorphism is a particularly well-behaved type of morphism.A normal category is a category in which morphisms are normal, whenever reasonable.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_(categories)
  • The force per unit area on a given plane within a body a = F/A
    www.flw.com/define_n.htm
  • The long-term average value of a meteorological element for a certain area. For example, "temperatures are normal for this time of year" Usually averaged over 30 years.
    www.srh.weather.gov/srh/jetstream/append/glossary_n.htm
  • A normal is a vector that is perpendicular to a surface.
    www.davidgould.com/Glossary/Glossary.htm
  • at right angles, perpendicular.
    www.phy.uct.ac.za/courses/phy322s/glossary.htm
  • This is the default layer mode. The layer will be viewed normally.
    www.ftgimp.com/help/C/glossary.html
  • Defining "normal" is a major problem," stated Dr. [Julio] Celis. As many researchers know, the pathology of samples can be open to interpretation, and robust parameters must be delineated and adhered to when defining normal versus various stages of pathology. Defining the Mandate of Proteomics in the Post- Genomics Era, Board on International Scientific Organizations, National Academy of Sciences, 2002 http://www.nap.edu/books/NI000479/html/R1.html
    www.genomicglossaries.com/content/clinical_genomics_email.asp
  • uses: a bank, the bank
    www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/events/johnson250.htm
  • Third business day after trade date for corporates and municipals, the following business day for US government securities and options.
    www.edwardjones.com/cgi/getHTML.cgi
  • This term, an abbreviated form of normal vector, refers to a vector that is perpendicular to the surface that it is associated with. One can picture this as an arrow attached to a surface so that it is at a constant angle of 90°. A normal can be used to record which direction a surface is facing in relation to another object, such as a camera or light.
    www.futuremark.com/community/hardwarevocabulary/
  • Entered English from French or Latin. It has the same Latin root as norms: made according to a carpenter's square, or right angled or (in medieval Latin) regular. But in the late 15th century its only English use was rare: a "normal verb" was a regular verb. By the mid 17th century it was used in English for something right-angled or perpendicular. It meanings as usual, typical; ordinary, conventional and physically or mentally sound or healthy emerge in the early 19th century.
    www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/mhhglo.htm
  • A statistical measure of usually observed structures, typical, or represenative type.
    www.vh.org/adult/provider/anatomy/AnatomicVariants/Introduction.html
  • Refers to the agouti or wild color.
    www.hamsterific.com/Glossary.cfm
  • The recognized standard value of a meteorological element as it has been averaged in a given location over a fixed number of years. Normals are concerned with the distribution of data within limits of common occurrence. The parameters may include temperatures (high, low, and deviation), pressure, precipitation (rain, snow, etc.), winds (speed and direction), thunderstorms, amount of clouds, percent relative humidity, etc.
    www.weatherquests.com/services/knowledge/glossary/
  • The bearing and distance of an imaginary straight line in 3D space, which is connected to a line or plane at 90 degrees, and connects at its other end to a distant point. The shortest distance between a line or plane and a distant point. Top of Page
    www.usfacetersguild.org/dictionary.shtml
  • a line that is perpendicular to the mirror at the spot the ray hits. The angle at which light hits a surface is measured from the normal.
    www.riverdeep.net/current/2002/01/010702_light_tg.jhtml
  • a random distribution, graphically represented as a "bell" curve. The Unit Normal distribution has a mean value of 0 and a standard deviation of 1.
    www.rasch.org/rmt/rmt152e.htm
  • That positional relationship of a vertebral segment, the skull, or pelvis in which these structures are aligned to the vertical axis, and in which the resultant of all acting forces is zero and the sum of all torques about their axes of motion is zero.
    www.aucco.org/glossary.html
  • The technical meaning of this word in statistics is "governed by a norm." The data numbers are assumed to be more or less successful approximations of that norm; there is nothing going on in the set except a more or less successful effort to reach the norm. Also popularly used in the sense of "corresponding to the norm," being average for the set, or "within the usual limits" (as a "normal" blood pressure). ...
    www.umass.edu/wsp/statistics/glossary/kn.html
  • concern multiple players or characters, but do not significantly change the world state. Examples: combat, looting, respawning mobs, vendors, alternate movement (flight, swimming, horses).
    mischiefbox.com/blog/
  • a graphic representation of the normal frequency curve distribution; bell curve. See also normal frequency distribution.
    www.nde.state.ne.us/READ/FRAMEWORK/glossary/assessment.html
  • An imaginary line taken 90° from the boundary between two media. It is used as a reference point to measure the angle of incidence and the angle of reflected or refracted rays.
    tuxteachesphotonics.tripod.com/glossary
  • (a.) Perpendicular. (n.) A normalized vector.
    developer.apple.com/documentation/mac/Sprockets/GameSprockets-317.html
  • A floating point number that is not denormal, infinity, or NaN.
    publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/lnxpcomp/topic/com.ibm.xlf91l.doc/xlflr/lr569.htm
  • A climate product summarising a particular attribute (eg ice concentration or predominant ice type). Thirty years is the standard length of time for constructing a statistical summation of a time period for use in comparing to a standard, or normal.
    ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/App/WsvPageDsp.cfm
  • The maximum or minimum value of the normal stress at a point in a plane considered with respect to all possible orientations of the considered plane. On such principal planes the shear stress is zero. There are three principal stresses on three mutually perpendicular planes. ...
    www.ntu.edu.sg/home/asjqiu/corrosion/J-Q.HTM
  • serendipity
    serendipity

    I think it's interesting that both luna and bek mentioned that they need to be needed to feel valuable or comfortable. I have that feeling as well.

    Is it because with JWs you have to display the works to prove your value or worth?

  • free2beme
    free2beme

    I am unique and by no means would I label myself as normal. I am about as odd as you might think. Although, in society that might be normal.

  • wasted-youth
    wasted-youth

    A very good question. I thought nothing about it till I became a JW, then I think I developed a slight superiority complex - and am still living with the realisation that 'normal' is probably the best I ever was. I too could fit in with any group - still can when I try - but never feel at home outside my immediate family.

    I choose not to enter the debate of what is normal, maybe average is another word with similar meaning - but average people do not exist, it is a mathematical value only.

    Cheers

    TP

  • ballistic
    ballistic

    I consider myself unique and I know I am "quirky" in many senses and have a sense of humour very different to most people I know. However as wasted-youth said, there is no "normal" as such, only an average... and average is something no-one should want to be.

  • OpenFireGlass
    OpenFireGlass

    Harmless, but not normal LOL

  • beksbks
    beksbks


    Serendipity, I think it may have more to do with the feeling of not belonging. Feeling out of place. Continually being told we are "different". If we are being useful (often taken advantage of) then we have some value. To be desirable just for who we are, as is, seems impossible. Being one of the crowd is very important for children growing up. We were given every opportunity to be OUTSIDE the crowd. In my memory, the society was always thrilled to have another way to prove how different we were. If I could have embraced the smug superior attitude of so many self rightous witnesses, I might be better off today. But I was never a pioneer, I hated going out in the service and having parts in the ministry school. So, I pretty much sucked as a witness. Again, no belonging.

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