What if living
And loving
Were woven into the fabric
Of how her life is unfolding,
Its messy sweetness,
And beautiful incompleteness,
What if living
And loving
Didn’t have to be so hard?
©Ashley Castle Barnes
I’ve carried a limiting belief for many years that everything is hard.
I’ve carried it partly because that’s what we’re told from a young age.
“If you want to be successful, you have to work hard.”
“No pain, no gain”.
“Pay your dues”.
I’ve also carried it because many things actually were hard.
Some of this was because of life circumstances beyond my control, like the death of my mom at 27. Some of this was likely because of the inequities women still face in work and home life. Much of this was likely due to my undiagnosed ADHD.
Everyday life stuff is just harder with ADHD.
And though I created many workarounds & coping mechanisms in order to stay on track (who’s track??) and successful (who’s definition of success??), it’s actually exhausting (e.g., hard) to live like that all the time.
And then already hard stuff becomes even harder.
I’m grateful for the greater awareness and destigmatizing of ADHD in all people, especially women.
I’m grateful for all those who continue to strive for equity for all people in all aspects of life.
I’m grateful for all those who continue to redefine what success looks like for themselves and others.
I’m grateful for all of us demanding that life doesn’t have to be so hard.