Today marks the first day of ADHD Awareness Month so there is really no better day to come clean.
I have a confession to make…
I founded The ADHD Advocate to educate and inspire as many people as I can to understand and embrace ADHD. so that individuals with ADHD can live life in integrity with who they really are. This means accepting and forgiving themselves for their ADHD failings and not defining themselves by their shortcomings, believing in themselves and their unique ADHD gifts, showing up in the world, being their authentic selves and inspiring others to do the same. To make a difference...
Easier said than done.
You can't make a difference if you're hiding. Unfortunately, this is what us ADDers tend to do. Guilt and shame resulting from disappointing ourselves and those we love drive us underground. In a bid to be "better" we try to be less ourselves and desperately try to make up for our shortcomings by hiding our failures, pleasing more and striving for a standard of perfection that just doesn’t exist. If we can just be perfect we tell ourselves then we will be beyond reproach.
Sadly, perfection doesn’t exist. What we should be striving for is to be the best version of ourselves that we can be, to be kinder to ourselves and embrace our ADHD.
Its time to “come out” and tell a new story. Here’s mine…
Stephanie Camilleri
The ADHD Advocate