QUESTION: Will i ever be normal again?

ANSWER: This is probably one of my all-time favorite questions to receive (and one of the most popular questions I have ever been asked). I address this subject in my new book, Letters to a Young Anorexic, in greater detail, but for our purposes here, the best place to start is to create a definition of ‘normal’ for yourself. What is ‘normal’? WHO is ‘normal’? And how will you know if you fit in or not?

In other words, there is no ‘normal’. There is only an unbelievable collection of utter uniqueness, all colliding and ricocheting off of our individual and collective assumptions about what normal is, who the normal people are, and what we have to do in order to be one of them.

Once you have developed a definition of normal that feels workable to you, try your hand at re-writing your question. Instead of ‘Will I ever be normal again?’, you might ask, ‘Will I ever (fill in the blanks with what normal means to you)?’

Then brainstorm a list of actions you can and must take in order to achieve your goals. In asking ‘Will I ever be normal?’ what you may in fact be asking is, ‘Will I ever enjoy life outside of whatever feels so abnormal and yet so much a part of me?’ So that leads you directly to a goal-making process of step-by-step small decisions, actions and exercises that you can use to facilitate reaching your goals.

I hope this helps!

Warmly,

Shannon

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