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I've been there too. If you've ever felt that awful, gut-wrenching anxiety before a social event...I've been there too. If you've cancelled fun plans because you didn't want to deal with the embarrassment...I've been there too. If you've felt pangs of humiliation and shame after botching a simple, everyday social interaction...I've been there too. If you've rehearsed future conversations in your head, planning exactly what you're going to say, only to choke horribly as soon as you're face-to-face with the person...I've been there too. If you've spent hours daydreaming about how nice it would be to not stutter, how amazing it would feel to be able to talk to anybody and say exactly what you want to say, in the exact way you want to say it...I've been there too. If you are a naturally sociable and outgoing person who loves to talk to people but has developed crippling social anxiety as a result of their stutter...I've been there too. If you've experienced the awkwardness of people's reactions to your stutter - the nervous laughs, the quizzical looks...I've been there too. If you've been cut off in a conversation because you were stuck mid-stutter...I've been there too. If you've felt extreme frustration about your condition, even though you know your anger is futile and won't solve any problems...I've been there too. To all of you out there who stutter, I know your pain. It is a terrible curse to not be in control of the delivery of your speech. A stutter can be a devastating disability and it can have a disastrous effect on the life of the afflicted. Unlike other disabilities, it is not highly visible and does not earn one any special accommodations or sympathy. However, if it is severe, it can impact one's quality of life just as much as more "serious" disabilities. Like many other things in life, the only real solution begins with acceptance. I make every effort to stutter openly and to not hide who I am. I still stutter constantly, although my condition does not have the control over me that it used to. That seems to be the only real relief. Therapy techniques have helped slightly, but I have accepted that I am going to have to live out my life as a stutterer - and that made all the difference. For what it's worth, there are countless afflictions that are surely way worse than a stutter. I don't have Parkinson's. I don't have cancer. Your stutter may be a curse, but you have surely been blessed in many other ways. Remember to count those blessings frequently - gratitude and perspective are two of the best buffers against the cold, harsh realities of life. You might as well dedicate your life to becoming the only thing you can ever be - yourself. And if you're like me, part of yourself is your stutter. Without your "flaws," you wouldn't be you, and without its tragedies, life wouldn't be life. You can't reject part of yourself if you want to become whole. A few quips from the great C. G. Jung: “We cannot change anything unless we accept it.” “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” "The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely."