It isn’t your destiny to keep hiding your ADHD by faking socially acceptable behavior. It’s called “masking” and it’s exhausting.Masking at work, with family or socially can feel like walking around in an ill fitting bra or underwear that keeps riding up. You can’t wait to take off.
It’s often the price you pay to get people to stop criticizing you for “inappropriate behavior”. Don’t get me started on that. It changes depending on who you’re with which can complicate things.
You act the part, at the expense of who you are. As a child you learn to mask to make the adults happy, but you aren’t.
As an adult, you’re insecure, approval seeking and depend upon others for your feelings of worth.
All because the things that make you unique are largely met with condemnation instead of curiosity. That is WRONG!
People really need to start asking you questions instead of being so quick with their corrections.
They may discover there’s an element of genius in the way you see the world. A perspective granted only to you, and at their disposal if only they’d encourage you to make use of it.
You are fortunate in that you aren’t alone in this. You have a community of people working to empower each other. To be themselves confidently while educating others about why that’s a good thing.
We must teach others that asking you to “mask” can be as detrimental as asking a musician not to tap their foot to the rhythm of music. It’s how they relate to the world.
When you’re allowed to move to your own rhythm, you’re far more likely to play in tune than by masking. Which is like trying to play an instrument you weren’t born to play.
Let’s jam!
