Sideways Can Feel Normal

Does this photo look off kilter to you? It's funny, this was my view while lying in bed this morning, and it felt perfectly normal. As I lay there looking at something on my phone, the camera inadvertently came on. It was only when I saw this same view through the lens of the camera that I recognized how sideways I was. 
 
First, let me say how grateful I am that our brains have the capacity to compensate for this sort of sensory input. Being much more than a lens, the brain and body can create a sense of normalcy from chaotic input. So sideways can feel as normal as upright. 
 
Yet I want to underscore something I just said—our brains have the potential to compensate for regular sensory input so that something which might be "off" can begin to feel normal.  Which in some cases, may be to our detriment!
 
You know what I mean. The difficult relationship which we somehow misinterpret to be love. The sluggish feeling in our gut we have come to interpret as healthy digestion. A continual sense of feeling overwhelmed during our workday that we eventually accept as being a necessary part of a fulfilling career. 
 
Dysfunction can eventually feel normal. 
 
Perhaps it is beneficial to occasionally look through a lens at life. Become the observer. See if what feels normal—when observed from a distance—is, in actuality, a bit askew. 
 
So, you might want to occasionally ask yourself the following question: "What in my life is actually off kilter, and how might I reorient it to create a better 'normal'?"

​[Originally published 7/15/2018]