The Truths About a "Normal" Life

In this episode of the Silver Disobedience Perception Dynamics podcast, Dian Griesel also known as @SilverDisobedience explores the complexities of living a 'normal' life. Dian reflects on the habit of saying everything is 'fine' even when it's not and discusses why acknowledging life's challenges is essential for personal growth. She examines the impact of social media on our perceptions and highlights the importance of embracing our problems as a natural part of life. Tune in to discover why admitting to having problems is a sign of strength and how doing so can lead to deeper connections and self-understanding.

Please SUBSCRIBE! I’m Dian Griesel, Ph.D. aka @SilverDisobedience to my hundreds of thousands of monthly blog readers. You can learn more about me here:   ⁠https://diangriesel.com⁠

 

But for starters…I am a perception analyst, counselor, hypnotherapist, author of 16 books and a Wilhelmina model. For 30 years I have helped my clients to achieve greater understanding as to how perceptions impact everything we do whether personally or professionally.

This episode was recorded in collaboration with The Manhattan Center, New York City, New York. https://www.themanhattancenter.com/

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00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:10 The Illusion of a Normal Life

00:36 The Habit of Saying 'Fine'

01:04 The Fear of Admitting Problems

02:10 The Reality of Everyone's Problems

03:27 The Harm of Hiding Problems

04:18 Embracing Challenges and Seeking Support

05:04 Conclusion and Thank You

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey there. I'm Diane Griselle, also known
as Silver Disobedience. Welcome to my podcast.
So today I want to talk about the idea of living a normal
life. You know, there was time, I'm
sure for a lot of us that we were so excited about the

(00:21):
craziness of life. And then in some ways we craved
what we thought was going to be normal.
But is there such a thing? Let's dive into this for a
couple of minutes. No, for much of my life, if I
was ever asked how's it going, my rote response was always the

(00:44):
same. My go to answer was fine,
everything's fine. Why did I say it was fine?
Certainly things sometimes were fine and at other times they
certainly weren't. But either way, my answer was
fine, everything's fine, it's all good, how about you?
The reason I did this in my younger days was because I

(01:09):
thought complaining was a weak and ugly trait.
That's number 12, which is probably the bigger one.
I was so afraid to admit that anything in my life might be
anything other than fine, because on some way I thought

(01:29):
this reflected on me failing. You see, the problem with
insisting on what we think is normality or that all is fine at
all times when it might actuallybe quite otherwise in the
moment, is that somehow deep down we're feeling very

(01:50):
dissatisfied with accepting lifeas it is in the particular
moment, which is problem full. Because problems happen and they
happen to everyone's lives. Don't let social media fully on
that. Believe me.
Everyone's got some problems happening, you know, And I think

(02:11):
the most important thing is to realize that having problems,
which is quite normal and probably the most normal thing
about a normal life, is that we all have problems.
Having problems doesn't mean that we're weak, unlucky, less

(02:31):
than, or otherwise inadequate compared to others.
If you believe others to be problem free, it's probably
because you're comparing your inner feelings to the facade of
normality that we also often tryto present.

(02:56):
And this is really important because, you know, I think one
of the biggest downsides of social media is everybody looks
so happy all the time. Sometimes I just want to post
the pictures, you know, when you're like me because that's
how you feel and you have those moments.
And it would help us all if we saw a little more of that.
But again, everybody wants to believe that everyone else's

(03:20):
life is going so great, so therefore mine must be going
great. Or if it isn't going great, I
can't let anybody know. So in reality, let's get back to
reality here. Because believing that you
should never have a problem, or worse, that your problems are
always a sign of weakness. Wow, that's painful.

(03:42):
That's really painfully isolating.
That's a terrible thing to do toyourself.
And why is it extra terrible? Because you can't really have
any conversations in depth if you're afraid to acknowledge
that sometimes, hey, life bites.It just bites.

(04:03):
Sometimes it bites hard. But here it is.
It is what it is, and it isn't always fine.
In fact, sometimes life can be immensely painful.
So at those times when life is normal, which actually means

(04:24):
full of trials and challenges, here's the good part.
It's those trials and challengesthat are part of normal everyday
life that hold the potential forus to reach new understandings
of our personal capabilities. We can embrace these personal

(04:47):
challenges and during along the way, we can also embrace others
and ask for their support. This isn't week, it's how humans
actually show their strength andfortitude for living.
I'm Diane Grisell, this is the silver Despedience podcast.

(05:08):
I want to thank you very much for tuning in and I really hope
you hit the subscribe button andcome back for more.