The summer before my junior year of high school, I was forced to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain for the AP English class I would be taking that school year. I hated these summer reading assignments, but this one I actually enjoyed. Twain’s writing style and the story intrigued me.

One of the parts I enjoyed the most was Tom Sawyer’s sudden arrival into the story. When Tom Sawyer arrives, he and Huckleberry Finn get into all sorts of mischief, mayhem, and adventures.

We ADHDers tend to have a history of messing up. When you have not yet learned how your brain works best, you mess up a lot. This can lead to a lack of confidence, even in areas where we are naturally gifted. Unfortunately, we become prone to experiencing a great deal of fear, anxiety, and nervousness. However, that does not mean we have to be slaves to this fear. Instead, we can escape its deadly grasp and take back control of our life. This is something I learned through my experience in the theater.

Today’s blog post examines what we ADHDers can learn from one of my favorite TV shows of all time, Everybody Loves Raymond. This show has a special place in my heart because it is hysterical and has gotten me through some rough times in my life. TV Land first started airing episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond around the same time my first girlfriend broke up with me. Every night, they showed 2-3 hours of Everybody Loves Raymond, and that is how I stayed sane during that heartbreak. Since then, I have turned to this show when I have needed a laugh to get me through a rough stretch. Recently, this fantastic sitcom came up in a conversation with my coach, and he noted that this show might make a good subject for a blog post.

The struggles an ADHDer faces on a daily basis can take a toll on their mental health. When you mess up as much as an ADHDer does, you start to believe the negative messages you hear both from internal and external sources. This is especially relevant if the ADHD diagnosis does not happen early in childhood. The longer one goes without an ADHD diagnosis, the more one wonders, “What is wrong with me? I must lazy and/or dumb.”

One day, during my Freshman year of high school, one of my teachers pointed out in front of the class that I had a weird sense of humor. “Yeah, but I’m not the only one,” I responded.

He doubled down. “Yeah, but yours is way out there.” At that moment, the conversation went from playful to isolating. I acknowledged that I had a bizarre sense of humor, but he went further and made me feel different. And, this teacher was a family friend! My sense of humor started to become a source of shame. I tried to hide the more bizarre side of my sense of humor, only sharing the humorous side that I knew others would appreciate.

November 25, 2018 marks 12 years since my friend Ian died. Ian and I sat next to each other in band class 7th and the first part of 8th grade. Ian played the trombone, and I pretended to play the trombone. Ian loved music and was probably too talented to play in the junior high band. I hated band and did not want to be there. Because Ian did not need to try very hard and I did not want to try, we often goofed around. Our favorite way to amuse ourselves was to quote Monty Python, and yes, we used British accents while doing so