STEPPING OUT OF "THE NORM"

     That's right, my fellow bloggers. I own a Halloween shirt, but it's one of my favorite pieces of holiday attire. Of course, how could I deny it? And the best part about this shirt is the skeletal hands glow in the dark. In a small and bizarre way, this little shirt impacted my life.

     Here's how it all began...

     Lowly and dreary on a Wal-Mart self, sat this shirt. People'd look at the shirt, roll their eyes, scoff at it, and threw it mercilessly on top of a pile of other "misfit" shirts. But not me--no sir. I saw something special in this one. Despite what the majority thought, P.B.E. and I gently picked it up from the pile, took it to the cashier, and we purchased it.

     When I wear this shirt in public around Halloween, some people I encounter pay no attention to it, while most stare and shake their heads, as though they're embarrassed for me, or smile and tell me how unique it is. And despite all the reactions, they're all left knowing I don't necessarily follow the "norm."

     And that's okay. Could you imagine how boring life would be if we were all the same, and we did everything everyone else wanted us to do? I've learned in my semi-advanced age that it's okay to be different.

    Unusual.

    Special. 

    And when you finally step out of the norm, you'll find the great big world. It's a world that's waiting for you to step away from the ordinary band everyone else marches to, and march to the extraordinary beat of your own drum.