“I am waiting for things to get back to normal.” That’s an expression we often use when the unexpected happens…when life throws us a curve ball…when the rules of the game change mid-season and we are forced to adapt. But lately I have come to the realization that very little in life, if anything, ever goes “back to normal.”

The problem with the idea of wanting the expected and familiar is that it forces us to look backwards. And by now we all know that life only moves forward. It’s the equivalent of the proverbial “letting the cat out of the bag.” Regardless of our futile attempts of holding on to the past, we are eventually forced to let it go and embrace the new normal.

Whether we are dealing with fractured relationships, changing businesses environments, or even aging issues, we have to ultimately come to grips with the new normal, realizing that even today’s normal might become passé sooner than we want.

So instead of wishing for my world to get back to normal, I have decided to embrace the new normal…understand its new dynamics, new rules, new expectations…and retool my life to work with where I am today because I suspect things will never get back to normal.

 Are you dealing with a “new normal” in your life?