Are you an “average Joe”? And, if so, how do you know? Perhaps you could be quite out-of-the-ordinary, if you let the unknown flow.
We live in a world of statistics. From the vitamins we take, the movies we see, the places we visit, or the way we invest our money there is a tendency to assume that what’s good for others will also be good for us. We try to live our lives under the center of the bell curve rather than its less-populated edges. We assume that life is somehow safer there. Perhaps the more we think this way, the more we become this way–average.
There are times in all of our lives when the laws of probability break down; the bell curve implodes. Perhaps it was mostly an illusion to begin with. Average is a place you pass through, but it does not define you, unless you let it. Statistics describe groups, not individuals. You don’t win the lottery out of luck, you win it because there is something specific God intends for you to learn through this event.
The well-trodden path may seem safe, and there are times when your life journey will take you down a road shared by others. But there is an inherent danger to life on these roadways. You could call it a form of “highway hypnosis.” It is the danger of falling asleep to your individuality, your own journey and destination. The center of the bell curve is not a safe place to be if you’re meant to be out on the edges, what statistics calls an “outlier.” And, since you are meant to be an individual, you are ultimately an outlier, a black swan.
Because you were created an individual, only your soul can give you the guidance you need on life’s important questions. And the reality of life’s unpredictability, of its hidden black swan-ness, gives added importance to all of your decisions. Your destiny and integrity hang in the balance far more than you may realize.