FYI,  Philosophy

Everyone is Weird Until You Get to Know Them

You’ve heard the phrase: “Everyone is normal until you get to know them” Well even though it’s somewhat true, I’d like to turn this phrase on its head quick.

I’ve met diverse groups of people throughout my life. Many people have surprised me on just how much they are like everyone else. This isn’t to say they aren’t weird exactly, or that they don’t have their own personality, or they’re not unique in their own right. What I mean here is that I met individuals in my life that I thought were somehow more impressive, or “special”, or “different” in some way.

People are just that, people. We’re all created in the image of God and all loved equally by him. Some times you see people do a first glance judgement (as humans there’s almost no way to avoid this) and then try to figure out if they’re more famous, or more talented or if we could get along with them, or not.

Between working at a school, volunteering with a youth group, and other endeavors I’ve realized that although some high school students are also college students, some are navigating tons of homework and some have already started their careers, some are dating others aren’t, and some seem beyond their years, in reality they’re all navigtaing the same relatively normal things: peer pressure, relationships, passions, talents.

The same goes for most adults we’re all just navigating a different part of life.

We all have have some of the same questions about life, we all want to do well in life, we all want friends and relationships, they just look different for some people.

So next time you’re out of your comfort zone introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you (if that’s appropriate) and see what similarities you have , you may be surprised by just how much you can talk about just by saying hi and talking about what you’re both passionate about or the situation at hand for that matter.

This isn’t to say people aren’t different from one another or that you’ll get along with everyone (because that won’t happen), it is to say that the kind of people you could get along with may surprise you.

All this is to say that people also do come out of their shells more when you know them personally, but you might often find out that they’re a certain kind of weird that is just like you.