One of my favorite things to do is go to Wal-Mart and look at all the weird people.
Admit it. You like to do that too.
The real question is what makes a weird person weird? Actually, weird is just different from you. The more extreme the difference is, the weirder one becomes.
My dad was weird. He had to have everything planned out carefully. If it wasn’t, he just couldn’t take action. He thought I was weird. I didn’t operate with a scripted plan and waited until the last minute to do things.
My colleague, executive coach and consultant Margi Bush thinks I’m weird. I pull together a presentation for a client on the flight over to the client’s location. I do my best work under pressure. I think Margi is weird. She methodically scripts her presentation and practices it over and over for perfection. Both of us deliver awesome presentations though.
My daughter Allie is weird. She rearranges her bedroom furniture on a quarterly basis. She thinks her brother Dustin is weird. In 13 years at home before leaving for college, he never once rearranged his bedroom furniture.
Weird is as weird does. My assistant Lisa told me today that it’s just best to “own your weird.”
Unless you have harmful or emotional issues like a fascination with fire or eating chalk, your weird is just your preference, or way of doing things.
My advice? Do what Lisa suggests and just own it. Where it doesn’t harm or offend others, be who you are and do what you prefer. Pleasing others in order to fit into their “normal” category leaves you untrue to yourself and ultimately unhappy. And by the way, when weird becomes your outlet for targeting people of different genders, colors, religions, etc., it’s not a weird issue, it’s a racist/sexist issue, which is NEVER appropriate.
My great aunt Joanie had a mole on her chin with a bunch of long black hairs growing out of it. She refused to clip them even though it grossed us out. She told us it was part of her personality. Aside from the hairy mole, she was a total joy to be around. If that mole was part of it, we just had to accept it.
This week, think about what you point fingers at as being weird. Ask yourself why you’re any less weird that others. Maybe the mirror is the best place to find weird people anyway.
See you at Wal-mart! I’ll be the weird guy in the ammo section.
