I have the honor and pleasure to write for really wonderful people!
I have received amazing emails this last week and all the comments are positive, constructive and supportive. The emails are from people who have faced major opposition, complaints and a negative public image due to a disorder called ADD ADHD! The emails are from family members and friends of ADDers who know their friends and loved ones with ADD ADHD are beautiful people, important people, and people of relevance and blessed with amazing talents and traits. The emails are from fellow ADDers who have struggled, who have strived and who have a deep desire to be the best that they can be! The emails are from people who have a feeling inside that is so strong, that they know, deep inside, that their destiny is special and together our destinies are intertwined.
I just can’t help but be impressed with my fellow ADDers!
You know, it’s amazing, truly amazing how resourceful, energetic and passionate people with ADD ADHD can be. There is no other mental ‘disorder’ in existence that has such a vocal and prideful community! Do you know of any other? I don’t! I just wish we would stop calling it a disorder. Yes, ADD ADHD is different, yes ADD ADHD is special and yes people with ADD ADHD face a bit more challenges than the average person, but when we overcome those challenges, oh my, some amazing and wonderful things happen!
I was reading a very good and poignant article yesterday by Evernerve. He has a wonderful blog which assists others in various ways. I met him from a comment he left here on ADDer World. He is a fellow ADDer! His article expresses the need to be wary of people who bring you down. I want to talk about that here and now, having ADD ADHD can put a bull’s-eye on your forehead, being friends and a supporter of those with ADD ADHD can put a bull’s-eye on your forehead. Why? Oh, there are so many reasons why, but that’s not where our focus should be. Actually, focusing on those people drainers, defeaters and pessimists just gives them power, power over you and power over me.
Fellow ADDers and friends of ADDers, let me tell you something very, very important. When you decide to overcome, to learn more and to come into your own, you are going to receive opposition, rhetoric and yes, maybe even deceit. When you decide that you will not be low down and not be a defeated person, you’re going to have to take a very good look at the people around you. There are people who like exactly where you are and use your past self-defeatism to make themselves feel better and/or feel the way you did and they don’t want to lose your company. Hey, if you can get better, that means they can get better, but getting better seemingly takes a lot of energy and they don’t want to make the effort, so they will spend even more energy to try and keep you right where you were, down there with them.
Do you know someone who is always giving you advice, always pointing out your faults and always telling you how terrible things are? This person seems like he or she is better in some way. Let me tell you, this type of person needs you much more than you need him or her! Once you start showing strength and self confidence you will find this type of person trying to reinforce your old negative self image! Let me encourage you to reassess that person’s motives., if he or she is not happy for you and appreciate the new, positive you, then it might be time to make a new choice of friends.
Let me put it like this, the more opposition that comes at you, the better you are getting and if you hang in there and allow your destiny to come into your own, those negative folks will go to the way side and give up trying to convert you back, and hey, when things work out they might even join your positive attitude, but don’t wait on them. You just have to be diligent and recognize the greatness which is within you, because it is there, I know it is and it is blossoming!
Such a wonderful community we have. I can’t express that enough. ADDers are united, ADDers build each other up and ADDers care for each other. That’s so very special and so very unique. It’s awesome how when the world is against us, we stand strong together and say “we have rights too!” Together, we are changing the perception of ADD ADHD. We are part of a wonderful group of people, and fellow ADDers who overcome seem to overshadow the world with their greatness: Albert Einstein, Tye Pennington, Paris Hilton, Terry Bradshaw, and David Neeleman, Robin Williams and so many others. Each of these people has had their problems, they have all been ridiculed in some manner and chastised, some even hated, but above everything else, they overcome and achieve great things.
You are a wonderful, talented and special person. You are you and nobody else can be you! Keep your chin up, keep the positivity coming and believe in yourself, the bright, and brilliant you!
Blessings and thank you all so very much,
Bryan
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Great article. I especially like the opening paragraph which summarizes an ADDer in a subtle, yet instantly recognizable manner! I saw myself in there: never satisifed with who I am, always looking for ways to improve myself - a self-improvement junkie!
The ADD drive is something that I can describe only as an asset, and never a “disorder”. Remember, people are scared from differences and things that upset their small worlds.
Someone blessed with ADD comes with so much energy, openness, honesty and ethusiasm that people tend to get scared. OK, I must admit, sometimes it can turn out uncomfortable, because if we don’t pay attention to our spurs and surges, we might end up hurting someone, and that’s not nice, even if it’s done unconsciously.
But there are also those who exploit this to cover their own shortcomings. And those who understand. Life is an interesting thing, and finding a good balance is really an art. Especially for us ADDers.
Keep on posting cool stuff.
Thanks Evernerve, quite the insightful one you are
I can’t wait to read the articles you will be writing concerning ADD! I am sure Adder World readers will be equally impressed.
Mixing Drugs and ADD: A Cautionary Story | extreme webmaster evernerve // Jan 28, 2008 at 1:08 pm
[...] have read many excellent posts related to ADD, but I haven’t found any that speak about ADD & illicit drugs, so I [...]
Very positive article, and I really think ADHD should be re-classified from a mental disorder. It’s can be a disability left untreated, but as you point out often, it can be a gift. I think that the old school world of psychiatry is in “disorder” as medical advances continue to prove that genetics have a lot to do with it.
And to the above comment, mixing illicit drugs with “” isn’t good.
Bryan,
Thank you so much for writing this…and for posting it to where I could read it now. There is a woman in my church choir who until very recently, I considered my best friend. Last week I started noticing how she always puts me down, criticizes everything I do, and frequently one-ups and makes nasty little ‘jokes’ in front of others. JUST like the person/people you describe in this post!!! And so I wrote her an email to tell her I see what she is doing, and I won’t put up with it anymore, and if she doesn’t change she won’t have any decent friends. WHOA, did the true (bilious) colors EVER come splashing out then! I am so thankful I was given the insight to diagnose the situation before I was drawn too deeply inside…and now to read your article, retelling the same exact thing (!!!) is a confirmation from God that I did the right thing, no matter what this woman…or others who don’t truly know her like I do…say(s) otherwise.
WHEW! She’s abusive, and I know abuse…am learning to call people on it when they try it on me.
Thank you so much, again, Bryan…
It’s turning out to be a really Marvelous Monday, after all. :>)
Blessings,
Bron
Thank you Bron, I am glad your Monday is going so well!