Back to Normal? Or Forward to What Actually Fits
Everyone says it:
“Back to normal.”
It slips out automatically after a holiday, a break, or a year that asked more of you than you expected. But pause for a second and really sit with the question:
What is normal?
Normal before the break?
Normal before the year began?
Normal before everything shifted inside you and around you?
Watch my video below to know more or continue reading.
We often talk about “normal” like it is a fixed destination, a familiar place we can return to unchanged. But the truth is, normal is not a place you go back to.
It is something you keep redefining.
You are not the same person you were before the pause.
Your mind has learned new things.
Your nervous system has adapted.
Your priorities may have quietly rearranged themselves.
Trying to force yourself back into an old version, old rhythms, old expectations, old ways of coping, can feel heavy, even if that version once worked. That discomfort is not resistance or failure. It is information.
Instead of rushing to recreate what was, try asking a gentler, more honest question:
What feels sustainable now?
What supports my energy instead of draining it?
What kind of pace helps me stay present instead of just productive?
This is an invitation to update your definition of normal, one that reflects who you are today, not who you were trying to be before the break.
Maybe your new normal includes more rest.
Clearer boundaries.
Different goals.
Or simply more space to breathe.
There is no prize for snapping back into an outdated version of yourself. Growth does not move backward. It integrates.
So instead of “back to normal,” consider this: