September 17, 2023

What is I’m Still Me and why am I’m writing this blog?

I thought I was creating I’m Still Me as a non-profit charity to help raise awareness on teen mental health because this is an illness that has hit hard within our family.  However, over the past few years, I’m Still Me has taken on a much bigger meaning, and its identity is more than I thought.  I’m Still Me applies to my own struggles with ADHD, anxiety, worry, stress and struggles in faith.  I’m Still Me applies to my teenage son who was recently diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia and dysgraphia.  I’m Still Me applies to my teenage daughter who has been diagnosed with ADHD, depression, anxiety, POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), self-harm and suicidal ideation.  I’m Still Me applies to multiple family members who struggle with addiction.  The slogan associated with the name I’m Still Me is “my struggle is not my identity”.  The name and slogan are designed to relay the message that despite our struggles, we are still who God designed us to be, and struggles do not define who we are.  I think it can be easy to fall into the mindset that we are what we struggle with, because there are days that is all we can feel and think about.  But I am starting to realize and understand that our struggles are given to us for a reason and a purpose.    It’s what we do with those struggles and how we work through them and grow from them that will allow us to understand our purpose and to use our experiences to help others. 

My goal for this blog is to be real with our struggles and share the journey our family has been on the past several years.  Hopefully by sharing our journey, this will provide other people an understanding of mental health struggles and learning disabilities, and just one family’s view of living in this broken world, raising teenagers.  I also hope it may even provide others comfort in knowing that they are not alone in their struggles.  Selfishly, I also hope this blog will be an outlet for me to unload the chaos in my mind and heart that has been refusing to leave.  This is where my struggles in faith come to light.  I understand that some people who read this may not want to continue reading since I do plan to discuss my relationship with Jesus, but I cannot share our journey without it.  It’s a part of who I am, and it is what I cling to day in and day out to get through this thing called life.