Above Average

This blog has been in my brain for months.  It has been years in the making, but I didn't know it. I've never aspired to be a writer. I don't really try to make people laugh, but I like it when it happens.  Well, because I actually said something funny, not just because people are laughing AT me.  You get the idea.
I really consider myself a pretty average person. Let me explain:

Who am I?  I am a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend.  I am a runner, a scripture reader, a cookie baker, a cinnamon roll seller.  I grew up in a small town, went to college, met a boy, got married, had kids and, now what?  I have spent a lot of my life feeling like I am just very, well, average. I have noticed that there seems to be plenty available for those who are wealthy, and for those who are very poor.  Let me explain:  As a young married woman, I began a short career in a direct selling company.  I enjoyed that experience, but quickly realized that it wasn’t as easy as it seemed.  I went to a convention one year and felt very frustrated that those women in the company who were recognized as “directors” or “gem level” associates were given free hotel rooms, free catalogs, free business supplies, etc.  I remember talking to someone about this once and wondering why those things were not shared with some of us who really “needed” it.  

On a separate occasion, at Christmas time, I was watching the news and there was this story about children who were getting a “trip to the  North Pole.”  They were taken to a local airport, put on a plane, and I believe the plane drove from one terminal to another.  When the kids de-planed they were now in “The North Pole” and Santa and gifts were awaiting them.  My kids were young, and we were poor college students.  I remember thinking something like, “Why do the poor kids get such cool activities?”  I felt a bit jealous that such privileges were available to those who were wealthier, (they had worked very hard to achieve their status in the company), and that these kids were going to get a nicer Christmas than my own kids. (It was probably the only REALLY nice Christmas many of those children ever received, while my kids have had several wonderful Christmas/holiday experiences.) 

What I was experiencing then is the feeling of being average.  Just a stuck in the middle sort of feeling, where everything else is just out of reach.  I am not a psychologist, but I suppose some of this comes from the fact that I am a youngest child.  I benefited from having older parents who had more time and more money. I didn't struggle much for want of anything.  Now that I’m older, and so much wiser, I am grateful that I had these experiences.  I have realized that most of us are average.  Just every day people that go around doing our thing:  Dishes, laundry, planning/making dinner, grocery shopping, school, helping kids with homework, chores, taking them to practices, lessons, fulfilling responsibilities at church, on the PTA, HOA board, walking the dog, changing diapers, cleaning up messes, vacuuming, dusting, more laundry, playing with the kids, spending time with your spouse…and the list goes on.  But don’t you see?  This is what makes us ABOVE AVERAGE!  These are the things that make us the wonderful women, sisters, mothers, friends, etc., that we are.

In my earlier list of items that describe who I am, I failed to mention that I am a copy-cat.  Really.  Nothing that I have to say is completely original.  I learn from others, and I am pretty good at reproducing something when I see a great idea.  (Well, unless it is a sewing project.  Sewing and I are not friends.)  So if I don’t have anything “new” to offer you, why should you continue reading?  Because I am able to give you so many of the things that I have learned, and put them into one place.  Many of these thoughts and lessons have come to me as I have adopted running as a new hobby/sport/way of life.  Many more have come as I have lived my life, doing the many "mom" things that I do.
These are the things that I learn on accident, because I live my life on purpose.