At the End of September

The past few days/weeks have actually been such trying times for me — going through the flu and then avoiding reinfection to boot, and no compensation [yet] for hard work of two months — but I made a deal with myself [and my ADHD brain] that somehow I’ll try to power through and make good on my deliverables and responsibilities, while acknowledging my neuroatypicality. I lack sleep, but as of now, on the last day of September, I’m actually good on almost all fronts! So I’m patting myself on the back because this has been such an effort. One good thing about being psychologically diagnosed is knowing your own neuroatypical challenges and finding ways to accommodate them. Before, I’d just feel overwhelmed and disappear. Now I know that “overwhelm” is actually an acknowledged and significant phase in the ADHD brain, so I have devised ways to counter it as best as I can. Before, I thought I was just a terrible human being. Now, I know that these are just mental health symptoms, and I am not my symptoms.