Judge Not

Judge Not

By Steve Pavlina

Have you ever met anyone who was normal?

I’ve met a lot of people on this planet(ˈplanət) so far, and none have ever seemed normal — or average(ˈav(ə)rij) — to me. Not even close.

Being normal is a myth(miTH). There’s no such thing.

Despite(dəˈspīt) what some people say about me, I don’t consider my lifestyle radical(ˈradək(ə)l), abnormal(abˈnôrməl), or extremist(ikˈstrēmist). I don’t do what I do to rebel(ˈrebəl) against society. That would be pointless(ˈpointlis) because no matter how I live my life, it’s guaranteed(ˌgarənˈtē) to be unique anyway. I can’t possibly live a normal, average life even if I tried. No one can.

Even if it were possible to live a normal life, would you even want that? On this planet, normal means living on less than $2 a day… and that’s just for starters(ˈstärtər).

Exposing(ikˈspōz) Your Uniqueness

The reason my work tends to polarize(ˈpōləˌrīz) people isn’t because I’m so “out there.” The reason this happens is that I openly share my uniqueness instead of keeping it hidden. Being different is commonplace(ˈkämənˌplās), but exposing those differences is fairly(ˈfe(ə)rlē) uncommon(ˌənˈkämən).

Most people lead with their sameness and hide their uniqueness, so as to maximize(ˈmaksəˌmīz) their chance of being accepted(əkˈseptəd) by others. I prefer to share my uniqueness openly. As you can probably guess, this exposes me to criticism(ˈkridəˌsizəm) — sometimes a great deal of criticism. But I’d rather be judged for the man that I am than accepted as someone I pretend(priˈtend) to be.

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https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2009/01/judge-not/