To be or not to be.....Normal.

I was sitting in a theatre with my husband when an ad came up for mini cars. The ad really caught my attention.  Watch it here;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R_D4V-Ns3Y

As I thought about this, I realized I DO NOT want to be normal. Occasionally, when I am in social situations and they are all eating the fat laden sugar food that I used to love so much (okay confession: I still love it, it is addictive, I just try not to eat it), I wish for a moment that I could eat that too for the taste and have it not affect my weight, but that is just not so. It does affect me and not just my mood, but my general health and well being. I desire to fit in at least so the situation isn't so awkward. Like I've said before, I am going to the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and we talk about fitting out. By fitting out, you can still be you. You can be an example and an inspiration to others. That is my hope. It still doesn't make it easy, I know! I had my parents come out for Christmas and it was really nice to see them, but every meal seemed awkward. I was trying to share some of my raw dishes that I had been taught and my family have enjoyed. It went over well with my mom who eats pretty healthy already. It didn't go over so well with my dad. I must say though, he was good and ate what I prepared without too much complaining. You could tell though that he was a bit miserable with it though. I did do some clean eating cooked dishes as well and we did go out to eat a few times while they were here, in my defense. So it's not like he was forced to eat only raw vegan the whole  time he was here or completely 100% healthy. I did make him a raw German chocolate birthday cake, which was amazing! He did say it was good, but made sure to tell me when he got home and was surrounded by the rest of my extended family that he had his Real, Normal Cake! I was sad at first because I thought...I am such an outcast in this family. I am not normal and I don't do stuff the same way they do. For example, because I'm not just talking about food here, I home school my children and I attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints; all of which are considered outside the norm. Plus, I live far away from them and so I'm not even with them on a normal basis.
The point of me sharing all of this with you is so that you can see that, yes, as you start eating healthy and different from the , Norm, you will stand out and it may be hard, BUT...you will feel good about your health and how you look and feel. And that is what is most important because you have to live with you ALL THE TIME! I truly believe that every non-normal thing that I do and practice is because I find it to be right and true and it is what works best for my family and I.
Also, I don't want to be normally obese or have a normal heart attack. I don't want to deal with normal diabetes, normal medications that I have to take everyday for the rest of my life. I don't want to be tired, fatigued and sick on a Normal basis. I just don't want to have all that common, standard, normal American diseases and illness' caused by eating a Normal, Standard American Diet. Nor do I want my kids to be socialized by other kids.  (That is a whole different conversation)
My hope and dream for me and my family is to be Amazing and Vibrant. I want us to be healthy, happy and be able to learn and grow as we see fit. 
I want you to know, that I am not saying in anyway that what is right for me is right and the only way to navigate this life. I'm just trying to make the point that normal is NOT our best option nor our only option. Does this all make sense? It sure did strike me, right to my center, when I saw the commercial and had been sulking about not fitting in that well.
It is this very issue or situations, circumstances, feelings and emotions like these that keep us from achieving what we really want in our hearts to become. So it is this sense of being normal that we need to overcome in order to really be set free to achieve the goals, hopes and dreams we have for ourselves.