I've come a long way and I'm proud of myself. Sharing some takeaways. (Male PWS - Late Twenties)

I've come a long way and I'm proud of myself. Sharing some takeaways. (Male PWS - Late Twenties) I'm happy to connect 1:1 when I have the time (as I rarely check reddit, but please feel free to DM me for advice if you want it. I will make an effort to get back to you). In this post, I am dropping some tenants I've learned and realized into my life only now as an adult in my late twenties. It's never to late. Please don't waste your youth/teenage years/adolescence/LIFE being covert like I did. It will haunt you and you will wish you lived a purpose life when it's all said and done by ACCEPTING yourself and not hiding from this condition. I could write an essay, but I will drop some bullet points of the most important takeaways I have had to free myself of the mental shackles of being a PWS: 1. **Everyone is struggling with something that feels like the biggest challenge/mountain to overcome for them. You may not see it, but you must know that a life-long challenge manifests in many ways. (I.E: Physical disability/mental disability/Health conditions/No family/poor living conditions/etc.) We are not as special nor troubled as we think -** ***I don't say this to minimize our challenge FYI.*** 2. **People are attracted to confidence and can smell insecurity. Stuttering and speaking with confidence, even if takes you an entire minute to get a word out, BUT retaining eye contact and holding your ground will always earn you more respect in the room than avoiding speaking, keeping your head down and fearing the thought of having to talk. Anyone that makes fun of you or tries to insult you - TRULY is only showing their own insecurity and lack of self development. Internalize this - it is a universal truth. You will never put someone down for something they cannot control, unless you yourself are insecure of your own life and your inability to control it.** 3. **Be kind to yourself. We didn't choose to be born with this condition. Ties back to point #1 - many people did not choose to be born and lose their parents at a young age. Many people did not choose to be "poor". Many people did not choose to have health conditions. Life is random.** ***Deal with the cards you are dealt - Win with those cards, find a way.*** 4. **Do not create a persona. For example, as a covert stutter most of my life - I took the route of creating a "shy, nice guy" persona so people would leave me alone and take it easy on me - especially authority figures (i.e. School/work). I wanted their pity to make my life easier and take the easy rout**e. **It only left me with more shame, guilt and regret- until now, trying back to point #2** 5. **Take care of your body. The mind, body and soul are all connected. If you do not take care of your body, it will translate to an unfit mind, and an unfit body. You will feel miserable and taking control of one aspect will translate to bettering the other, vice versa. If you do not believe in religion, try to find a greater purpose to life. Whatever that is for you - Have a mission/Have a purpose. Work towards it, step by step, day by day. Start by going to the gym/exercising/and eating clean.** 6. **Refer to those people who stutter that made it in life beyond the average person that can speak effortlessly. There have been kings, a current president, celebrities, and CEOs/Executives who stutter/did stutter and they have made it a point in life that most PWS feel they can never achieve. If they can do it, so can you. There is no difference between you and them when it comes to this condition.** 7. \*\*OPTIONAL (ANECDOTAL ADVICE) - If you are finding that speech therapy is not working for you, please stop it. Save your time and money. \*\*\*\*\****Stop chasing fluency\*\*\*.*** **Do not try to "Fix yourself". Accept who you are and accept that stuttering is a condition unique to you. Unique to us. It is a part of us. It will stay with us even on good days, good weeks and good months/years of fluency. A mindset of trying to "fix it" will only push you down further towards a path of self acceptance and ultimately success, confidence and purpose in life. P.S. I do recommend an initial go at speech therapy to improve fluency and articulation, but do not expect to be** ***fixed.***