What is normal?

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What is normal? I've always hated the term "normal" because it makes it seem like there's an actual definition for the way someone or something should be. In truth we are all different, we are all our own version of normal. You can't just take everyone and lump them into the same mold. We all have our own unique personality, we all have different likes and dislikes. We all look, think, and act differently. We may share some similarities with others but we also have many differences from those around us. I spent my teenage years trying to fit into this mold of what I thought normal was, I wanted to be accepted. It took me years to figure out that I wasn't normal, but that's because no one is. Some of us may be less awkward, or less peculiar than others, but we are all unique. Even identical twins aren't completely alike. You can look a lot like someone and still be so completely different. I grew to despise the term normal, at least for describing people. "She's not normal" you're darn right I'm not, but neither are you. I feel like I could have saved myself a lot of time when growing up if I had just accepted myself as I am. I still haven't quite accepted myself. I have self-esteem issues, and I am not confident, and a lot of that was social pressure. The only time I can remember ever being OK with who I was, was before junior high. Once my teen years started I started to realize I was what some people considered "weird." It's not that I changed, it's that I became more aware and started to care more. I was always a little awkward and shy, but I didn't really become aware of it until I got older because people made me aware of it. My teen years shaped who I am now, the people around me are what helped turn me into the mess that I am. People don't realize that their words and actions can make a huge difference to those around them. You may be being mean to fit in, but words aren't just words, they can cut like a knife to a kid who is already so unsure of themselves. It's easier to believe the bad things than it is the good things about yourself. Words matter. Kids are mean because they want to fit in or maybe feel better about themselves, and at the time they don't care about what their actions do to another person, but they NEED to understand. They might regret it later, but in that moment they don't care and if they do it's not enough to stop them. Who we were as teenagers can haunt us for years to come. I believe that part of the issue is because we use the word normal. This term makes us organize people into groups instead of seeing them as actual people and looking at them for who they are and not who we think they should be. Again I ask, what is normal? To me, normal is a term we use to describe how we think people should be and not for who they actually are. I don't like the term normal when it comes to describing someone. "They're normal" but the truth is no one is actually normal because we are all so different from one another. We find people who might have more similarities to us than others do, but even then there's still so many differences. I don't believe there is a single normal human being on this planet, but that's just me, maybe someone else sees things differently than me, but I think that's the point. We are all different and we all think differently.