I am not like everyone else, I have ADHD and my childhood wasn’t normal either.

Quite frankly, I don’t want to be like everyone else. I don’t want to conform to be someone better than anyone else or to be ‘normal’ and I certainly don’t want to be average. I have no such desire. I used to and it would drive me crazy. I like being me. I have some hard luck stories, I can tell you of all the mistakes I have made and the challenges that overwhelmed me, but sometimes the point is missed. I still have ADHD and many of the issues that come with it, but that is not my point.

I have ADHD. I strive to reframe and rephrase my disadvantages and turn them into advantages. It’s something I try to do as much as possible. ADHD is a serious disorder that affects millions of people. The symptoms cause very serious challenges. Each person develops their own, personal coping skills in order to deal with their symptoms. Many of us, as I was, can easily become overwhelmed and will need very specific, specialized treatment, perhaps even medication. My point of view is part of my coping skills. It’s been working for me and I will tell you why.

I fully believe in the process of looking on the brighter side, it’s my way, it works for me. Each and every day is a day of opportunity, good things can happen and more often than not, when I expect good things to happen, they usually do.

It wasn’t always this way. Having undiagnosed ADHD most of my life led to a lot of heartache and tragedy. I was constantly in the mode of waiting for the other shoe to drop and the other shoe typically dropped very hard indeed. What I have learned is that we usually get what we expect and to a degree we can create our own life-forecast.  It’s true.

I am about to tell you something about ADHD that will blow your mind! You will think about it and just go … Dang, that’s true! Then again, you might go… that’s ridiculous, Bryan’s lost his mind!

One thing I have always been known for is that I am a very fast learner. No, I am not necessarily a fast runner, unless I am being chased, then I can get my run on pretty good. In the past being fast made me feel like I was better than everyone else, because, they were slow and then eventually and unfortunately, they would pass me for reasons I couldn’t understand. I hadn’t gotten any worse, I was still pretty darn good at what I was doing, so, why were these people passing me?! It was confounding I tell you! To make matters worse, these folks passing me could not do what I was doing better – what I could do was superior in every way! So, I have to slip this in here, please excuse me – WTH? (What The Heck?) That’s what would run through my head and I couldn’t solve the question. It was the most perplexing thing, it puzzled me to tears.