Look Forward.
Never Back.
You cannot change the past.
But the Future is yours!
You are NOT your past.
Change is yours.
Take it and make it our own.
Your life is worth something.
Something Beautiful.
You are beautiful.
Never Look back.
Only look forward.
There are going to be times in your life when others are going to want to suppress your talent. When those around you are jealous of your abilities and they want to outshine you. And there are even going to be times when people just do not like you. Does this mean you are a terrible person? Not at all. It is just life. There are over 7 billion people in this world, and we are not all expected to be best friends. All that is expected of us is to show the same respect to one another that we would want to be shown towards ourselves.
Now, being an anxiety sufferer, this lesson is INCREDIBLY difficult. By nature, I am a people pleaser. I desire to be everyone’s friend and there are times when I have a come apart because someone is upset with me, or even looked at me strangely. I’m sure (at least I hope) I am not the only one with these same insecurities and anxieties. What we have to remember is that other people’s opinions DO NOT define who we are. We know who we are, and we must be confident in ourselves to not let the thoughts of other effect our self-worth.
I am continually learning this lesson. Even today. I have to remind myself, frequently, that I am a wonderful, kind, creative and loving woman, and nothing anyone else says or does will change who I am. I am loved by my family and friends and that is all that matters. OH and my dogs! They love me too! 🙂
Normally I adore having ADHD, but I have to admit that I have been struggling over the few weeks with my self esteem in regards to its effects on my life. I am not sure what brought about these negative feelings towards, but I know that right now I am having a very difficult time managing. I am very aware that my ADHD causes me to be overly loud and appear to be childish. I know that I lose things, get off track, become impulsive and slightly out of control. These qualities are often in the forefront of my mind, and I truly work hard to keep them under control.
For whatever reason, these past couple weeks have really worn me down. I have been in several trainings where I have to sit and be quiet for 8 hours at a time, and I think I have noticed how difficult that is for me, and I have been paying more attention to how others around me react to my behavior. It truly sucks to be able to know my problem, yet be almost unable to change it.
I have been struggling with realizing how I may frustrate those around me, my husband included, and how people may not take me as seriously as a professional. This has been a serious blow to my self-esteem. I always thought I was just lovable, forgetful young woman who always had a quirky story to tell, but I’m not sure that is how it is perceived anymore. I feel as if my ADHD is prohibiting me from being the best I can be professionally. I also feel that it is effecting my marriage, because I can tell my husband gets frustrated with me when I don’t pick up the clothes, do the dishes, take out trash, forget my phone or any of the other many things I misplace. He is so great about supporting me, but I know it gets to him, and I don’t ever want my ADHD to cause a rift.
Right now is very difficult, but I know that I am going to get through this and be an even stronger person. Eventually, I will learn how to manage my symptoms more effectively. I will not give into frustration. I am bigger than my problems. I am strong, and I can fight back!
Thank you everyone for listening to my venting.
I challenge you to complement yourself. To be proud of who you are as a person and the talents you possess. I know it is an uncomfortable thing to do, looking at yourself in a positive way, but I believe that it is completely fine. We spend a large portion of the day looking at desirable qualities of others and wishing we were more like them. Finding the faults in ourselves has become a natural past time for many of us (myself included) and because of that, we no longer feel comfortable looking at our strengths. How sad is that? We were all made perfectly! Yes, we may have weaknesses but that doesn’t mean we are failures.
The parts of the body do not all perform the same function, but they all come together to form a beautiful creation. What good would a body be if everything was a heart? A brain? Or a pinky finger? Nothing would get done. It is the same with our talents. If we were all musicians, music would not be as beautiful because everything would be the same. I certainly don’t want the same talents as everyone else. Our unique qualities allow us to form a culture where we can all support one another and work together to make amazing things!
Now the challenge is to identify five things about yourself that you LOVE! Don’t feel guilty about acknowledging your own amazing qualities!
Here are the 5 things I LOVE about myself:
1. I am very creative and artistic
2. I am talented when it comes to stringing words together to make beautiful sentences
3. I am a great entertainer and am able to tell stories with over the top enthusiasm
4. I have amazing hair!
5. I am a trustworthy friend 🙂
**I have to admit it was a little difficult for me to come up with 5 good things about myself. I think changing my mindset about myself is now on my list!**
The Persistent Platypus 