Sometimes it is nice to take a moment and reflect on things. ADDer World is now a year old (ADDer World community only 2 months) and my book “One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir – Surviving Life with Undiagnosed ADD” has been on the open market for just over 6 months. I sit here, close my eyes and reflect. Where was I in my quest just over a year ago, what hopes did I have and what did I imagine the future would hold? Seems to me I was living on a prayer (to quote the inspirational band Bon Jovi). I have a very vivid imagination, it is incredible, the things I can see and the things I can sense. But who knew? I didn’t.
Fears, anxiety, hope and desire – terrible nightmares and wonderful, splendid wishful dreams. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. And yet, with a little hope and trust in the intangibles of that ‘special feeling’ inside, there is a light that grows brighter and brighter. We take the steps before us, cautiously and anxiously, hopefully and heedfully. I am ever so grateful and ever so humbled.
If you have not read my book yet, it is a record of the effects of ADHD on a boy becoming a man. We read so often from self help experts who tell us the things we can do to overcome and succeed – and although those suggestions are helpful, it is often more useful to read them from the personal perspective of someone who has “been there and done that”.
Below this paragraph are a few of the things I write about in detail within the pages of my memoir. I tell of how these things affected me and with hindsight how these things either helped me or hindered me. I also explain what these things are from someone who has lived the life unbeknownst, what diagnosis meant and how it helped me overcome the past and create a better future. I give you my very own ADHD reality:
- Hyper Focusing (the power of and distraction of)
- Pretending/Acting/Creating Reality
- Affects of pressure
- Chastisement and ridicule
- Anxiety and Fear
- Hope and Positive Thinking
- That Special feeling inside (which has brought me to where I am today) I believe all of us have it.
- Creating success
- Friendships (both lost and found)
- Much, much more
“One Boy’s Struggle” is about as raw a perspective as you can get. The editing is limited to simple punctuation and grammar. You get to read the reality as it was lived with no influence or oversight from anyone. In this you receive the purest reality of my life experiences and lessons learned as I could possibly provide. This is also a reason why some of the publishers I approached turned down publishing my book as I refused their professional editing or suggestions thereof. I almost gave in to the requests from publishers to have a professional editor give it the polish they believe was needed to help it succeed. I did not give in and decided instead to self publish. I am pleased with my decision – I do not think “One Boy’s Struggle” would be the same if edited and polished to perfection. My life certainly was not, and is not, perfect (who’s is?). Perhaps J.K. Rowling felt the same way as she was turned down by several publishers for her first Harry Potter novel?
A memoir, such as mine, needs to be raw and pure to be of value the way I intended it to be. Don’t you think? Perhaps the power of your reviews and comments will help others see the value in this raw reality. For now, I have made my book available to you in the form it was intended.
The proceeds of my book go to supporting the ADDer World websites and my continued writing of ‘my thoughts’ on ADHD. I appreciate the offers of support – simply assisting in spreading the word about “One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir – Surviving Life with Undiagnosed ADD” is all the support I ask for.
Thank you, each and every one of you, your friend and fellow ADDer – We are in this together. Let’s walk together, you and me. There are great things to come – the reflections of the past can lead to an ever brighter future.
Bryan
