For those who are struggling

The goal isn’t to minimize the struggles, it’s to find positivity in tough situations. If anything, maximizing the struggles of autism will ironically hold us back from accomplishing great things.

I once met a man who was raped and abused by his mother and he spoke of it as a gift. It confused me and I thought he was just using it as a coping mechanism, or that he was maybe in denial. I then realized he was serious because his struggles in childhood allowed him to find a higher power and a career that involves helping others with mental health, PTSD, addiction etc. His childhood trauma gave him an opportunity to help 1000s of others over decades.

Laird is an example of someone who said “screw the stereotypes, I believe in myself and will prove others wrong” at a very early age, and it helped him become what he is today. If he accepted what other people told him about having “problems”, then he would probably be an addict, criminal, or a very depressed person who never felt like they could accomplish anything.

Another example would be a back injury that I had. I was in so much pain that I spent 3 months laying on the floor. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t walk down the street to even get food. I was very depressed at first and turned to drinking, but then I stopped and thought “how can I turn this into a positive?”. I ended up listening to 23 audiobooks, learned how to cook, and built a daily habit schedule that has improved my life and mental health more than anything I’ve ever tried. My permanent spine damage is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

An example with Aspergers would be that I have trouble communicating in the workplace. I could tell myself that I’m never going to be able to do as well as my peers because of poor communication, but there are other things I do better than my coworkers. I notice problems that others don’t notice, and I’ve built workflow systems that the entire company has begun to implement. I’m respected because when I notice something that other’s don’t, I speak up about it. If I told myself that my autist ideas are stupid and never spoke up about it, then I would become the stereotype of “not being good enough” or “mentally unfit to succeed”.

Our struggles are real, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t in control of how we handle them. The majority of mental health subreddits are filled with people are who struggling, but that doesn’t mean everyone is. There are folks out there with the same problems as us, but they are crushing life and living their dreams. We all have the ability to do it, it’s just a matter of finding the positivity in every situation.

This quote from the bible hits it perfect. I think anyone can benefit from this, whether they are religious or not:

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. —2 Corinthians 12:9-10

/r/aspergers Thread Parent