New Normal

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails” – William A. Ward

I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of “new normal”. 

As humans we are creatures of habit. We like to wake up and know that we can rely on constants. Knowing certain places will be safe, specific people will be there, various routines will be performed, that our bodies will be vessels that help us rather than hinder us, and at the most basic level simply knowing that we can rely on things we’ve always known to be reliable. 

The reality is, is that the only constant that we can rely on is change, and the only thing that we can really expect is the unexpected. So if the normal that you have been accustomed to becomes interrupted and your life feels uprooted because everything you have come to know is unstable – try not to think of it as abnormal, try and think of it as new normal.

Having unpredictable bowels leaves you in periods of stability sometimes and instability others and this re-adjustment of new normal might just become a constant in your life. The day I was diagnosed, March 12th, was the start of a new normal for me. Finding out I had a disease I would carry with me throughout the entirety of my life was a scary thing. Questions raced through my mind: Would I be able to finish university? Would I be able to be a normal university student? Would I enjoy food again? Would I be able to have a normal relationship? Would I be able to live my everyday life happily? Would I still be able to play sports? Would I be able to travel? Would I be able to enjoy social engagements again? These and about a million other questions bombarded my brain. I can tell you the answer to all of these questions is yes. I have been and will continue to be able to do all of those things. The way I go about it might not be considered normal to the people around me, but it has become normal to me – a new normal.

So re-evaluate the winds and adjust the sails if need be. The changes that have come about don’t need to disorient the direction in which you were headed. You might have to endure a longer journey or a more trying trail to get where you’re going, but you’ll still get there. 

Change is tough, but you are too.


- Taylor