The joy of having something in common

I've always been a bit strange. Sorry to disillusion anyone who thinks I might be normal. One of my personality quirks is that I am not a morning person. I can remember being on a getaway with some girlfriends and I heard one whisper to another, "what is wrong with Danica? I can't believe she slept so late."  Over the years, I've had a number of well-meaning people try to turn me into a morning person. They barely escape with their lives intact fail. But there's still this overwhelming sense of wondering why I can't be like everyone else, and get up at the crack of dawn.

Then last night, when we picked up the princess from a friend's house, we got to talking to her mom. Now I've heard her mention not being a morning person, but when we were talking, she started mentioning things about not being a morning person that made me realize that I am not as crazy as everyone thinks. I loved her description of coming up swinging when her hubby woke her up early in their relationship. I had a similar moment in my marriage... my hubby is still not recovered from the trauma. The best part was that hubby was there, listening to her describe her morning aversions, and she could have been talking about me.

Knowing that I wasn't alone in one of my big personality quirks brought me strength and joy. There isn't anything wrong with me. Sometimes when we are surrounded by people not like us, we start buying into the doubt and wondering... Am I just different, or am I wrong? I think it's a good question to ask at times, because there are times when we are doing something that is wrong.

None of us are exactly alike, but when we find that we have something in common with someone else, we realize that we aren't as alone as we think. It's also good for those around us who don't have those personality quirks to understand that just because we aren't like them doesn't mean we're wrong.

One of my missions in sharing so much of my life is that I hope there will be times when you have that aha! moment and realize that you are not crazy or weird. Well, you may be. But you know what? That's okay. I'm crazy and weird and... wonderful! So are you. Maybe you're a raging psycho morning person. That's okay. I respect that. Maybe you're like me, and if anyone bothers you before 9 or 10 am, they quickly learn to fear for their lives. That's okay too. Well, maybe not the homicide part. I understand that's wrong, no matter how you color it. But hey, I'm still learning and growing. Still, it's an adventure that I'd rather take with people who may not be just like me, but still find joy in doing it together.

Have you ever had that aha! moment of realizing that someone shares a personality quirk that you always thought made you strange?

Are you still longing to connect on something you think no one understands?