Stereotypically, the best art, music, and poetry come from an artist who has experienced deep emotions and translate those fiercely into their work.

Let’s see if those parameters apply to a blog as well….

We all fall out of a womb at one point, and then stumble around blind untill we die. Or at least, that is what it feels like I am doing. Sure, we have parents and friends who guide us, give us advice and try to keep us from making their same mistakes… but ultimately, every choice from what we study in school, down to which socks to wear tomorrow morning, are decisions we make for ourselves, to the best of our abilities.

And we are only human, dealing with this immense pressure from society and relatives to always make the best decisions, and often times we let those people down, or fail to make the choices that they would have chosen for us, given the chance.

In reality, a lot of the decisions our inner voices urge us to make can and do go against societal norms, a recipe for outcasting. But that is the beauty, that everyone is unique, just like everybody else.If you are struggling to make a difficult decision that goes against the wishes of those you love, or the standard parameters that your culture sets for your life, then keep reading.

I grew up with very liberal parents, in Florida, USA. But as accepting of others as they were, and despite the amount of times I was taught to not judge others for their beliefs, color of their skin, or life choices, I seemed to be an acception to them.Mom and Dad were open minded in many ways, to different cultures and religions, never commenting rude opinions or judgements. But when it came to my choices or my decisions, it was always “No you can’t, because they will think ‘this’ way about you”. Or, “Don’t do that, because how am I going to explain that to your grandmother”.

I believed that we were all free to make our own decisions, and thankfully, they instilled me with this value of being as accepting of all people.

Then, I dropped out of college. I got a tattoo. I pierced my bellybutton. I wanted to travel and live nomadically with little money, attempting the self growth and exploration goals I had dreamed of since I was a little girl. They did not approve of this, and before I could shed a tear, they had given me 60 days to move out of the house and never contact them for money ever again.

Truthfully, this was the push I needed to start following my dreams of being a traveling content creator. I had the comforts of home, (after moving back in at 24 becuase I had no place else to go) food in the fridge when I needed it, and the safety of parental oversite.

So, I packed. Society wanted me to go back to college, not my parents. Neither of them went to University, but believed that in order for me to succeed or fit into the puzzle of our modern day economic society, that I had to follow the path laid out for me by said entity. I know so many people like me, who dream of achieving something outside the realm of their loved ones wishes, but many of those people cave, and revert to completing whatever task had been assigned to them since nearly birth.

Making your own choices in life can be intimidating, especially after having someone else make them for you since you can even remember. But it’s addicting. Once you follow your heart, just once, you are hooked, at least I know that I am. The hollywood “rebellious” teen showcases this addiction, but we paint “rebellious” in such dark color, rather than acknowledging that though there are many people who’se puzzle pieces fit perfectly into society, modern day society is not for everyone. And THAT should be okay.

Nothing is for everyone. Introduce me to even a set of twins that are so identical that they literally want, care, and feel in every exact same way, and I will delete this article.

But nothing is for everyone, that is the beauty in our uniqueness. We have this desire for others, for the ones we love, to “achieve” whatever it is we believe is right for them to achieve, in our own eyes, but we are simply viewing these people from the filter of our own experiences… guaranteed to be a much different filter from the one they view the world through.

No one dictates my life. I barely even do, I just go with the flow in the present moment and do what feels right to my inner voice. Others are more than welcome to guide me, I welcome that guidance with open ears and an open heart. But ultimately, I am going to take the decisions that will make me happy, take me closer to where I want to go, and follow the path that I imagine for myself.

I hope you will do the same. I hope you won’t let toxic friends, relatives, or loved ones be your life map, because every human has the right to write their own map for themsevles. Take that risk that goes against your culture, and laugh at those in your circle who snob their noses at you, for those aren’t true friends you want in your life anyway. Make decisions for YOUR future, not the future your family wants for you. You have to live it, not them, and just like my family who contacted me after several months with an apology and with the high hopes of opening up lines of communication with their daughter again, yours will come around once they see you happy with your own decisions.

My parents just believed I wouldn’t be happy unless I followed their road map, but upon the realization that I have the ability to make my own happiness from within, under whatever the circumstance, they came back around.Yours will eventually, too.

Stop caring about what other people think, about what other people want for your life, and you will find extreme happiness in your own decisions.

I am rooting for you.

Written by, Kayla

Evidence suggests that being in a relationship with an ADHD partner can result in extra stress, relationship problems, and often times, one or both partners feeling unwanted or not paid attention to. I, the non-ADHD partner, am currently in a realtionship with an ADHD having partner who is the most incredible man I have ever met. He does come with his own set of challenges related to his ADHD, but I myself have problems just like every other human being that we both have to tackle as a team.

I once read that the problems in your ADHD (And any relationship, for that matter) are not you vs. your partner, but they are you and your partner vs. the problem.

If you fall in love with an ADHD diagnosed person, there are many steps you can take to create the best envrionment possible for both you and your partner to thrive. It must be a team effort though, you and your partner against the problem

My biggest tip, is patience. Though that concept can and should be applied to all aspects of your life, having patience in an ADHD relationship will reduce stress, arguments, and produce a deeper level of understanding between both partners. My partner has an abundance of thoughts at all times. He seems to think in 4d, having multiple conversations with himself in his head without exception.

Often times I speak to him, or ask him questions, and get no response for even up to thirty seconds. It can be frustrating at times, as I would like an answer to my question or an awknoledgement that I was heard. In the beginning of our relationship, I struggled with feeling ignored. It is common in an ADHD relationship for the non ADHD partner to feel like they are not getting enough attention from their partner.

It took real, honest conversations about how we both felt regarding the situation, and what we would like out of the other person with respect to our individual perceptions of how our relationship should function.

We wrote a manifesto, a document outlining exactly the aspects of our relationship we think are important to keep us going strong, and found the word PATIENCE written several times. It became our running theme!

Now, I understand his characteristics better, especially the ADHD characteristics that shine brightly in my man. We mutually agreed to have patience with each other when I ask him questions and his head is too full to fit me in that exact moment.

I wait patiently, continuing with what I am doing until I get a response from him, because I know I will get one eventually. Sometimes, he may have heard me speak but what I said was not registered in his brain, almost like he lagged, so he will ask me to repeat myself.

This just takes patience and lots of respect, and reminding myself that I love him AND his ADHD characteristics! I no longer feel ignored or disrespected when it takes several moments for him to pull himself into reality, as I appreciate his attempts to connect with me in any way that he can. It is easy for me to repeat my question or comment, not a hassle or stress, though for some they may label that as annoyance.

Those people just need to practice the art of patience, or better yet, an abundance of it.

If both partners in a one sided ADHD relationship can effeciently communicate their needs to each other, and agree on a high level of patience excuted by both, then I promise you, any pesky problems that those experts say ruin ADHD relationships can be easily overcome.

Patience and love, an extremely powerful combination.

Written by, Kayla

Part 1

The story really starts before I was born, when my Chilean parents moved to Norway in 1988. I was born 5 years after, in 1993.

We didn’t have a good relationship growing up, my parents and I, but because of that I got to experience life and give it personal input from the early age of 17. In Norway, the social system had me covered. Even though I left home early I knew the government would take care of me. That was my first leap of faith, leaving my parents house, against their will, to pursue a happier tomorrow.

That was the best decision I ever took.

From that day I’ve experienced the happiest moments of life and the most critical a human being can experience. I’ve fought back suicidal thoughts on two different occasions, followed by events I didn’t know how to handle.

Those moments of total misery brought the heaviest learning lessons. Lessons that would help me grow to the emotionally strong young man I am today. I’ve learned how to value my own opinions of my Self first, how to detect damaging thoughts lingering in the unconsciousness and how to put myself in positions to succeed.

On top of this roller coaster of a young life I’ve also developed the doubt of my mind being neuro-typical. I truly believe I have lived with ADHD my entire life without having it diagnosed. I still haven’t gotten it diagnosed, but everything I read, all videos I see and all the people that know me say that it is highly likely that I have the condition. My girlfriend and I moved to Asia yesterday, more specifically the island of Bali. I got an appointment with psychologists in Norway to uncover my doubt of ADHD, but unfortunately I will be in Asia at the time of the appointment. I will have to wait until November or December.

Never the less, I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do. Travel to unknown places working on my passion to become a better storyteller through film-making, blogs and content for the various social platforms of our time. Having a rather unusual personal story I find it simple to express what I have experienced and how I have related to the experiences the universe have given me. Some say everything happens for a reason, I say it doesn’t matter what happens to you, only how you react to it. That piece of wisdom has served me incredibly well in the journey of life.

One more piece of wisdom I would like to share before I round up:

Patience.

Life is long. I’m only 25. With today’s technology one can only imagine how fast is will develop in the next 10-20-30 years. Who knows, maybe there will be a small chip-device you can inject on the inside of your skin that tells you all you vital signs and alerts the app on your phone. When you should drink water, exercise or take your iron pills. With a device like that we will live longer than humanity has every seen. I predict I will live until I am 150 years of human age. I’ll keep you posted about this 😉

But patience… No reason to rush. One step at a time. If there were not enough hours today, tomorrow will come. Schedule. Plan. Structure. I’m currently working on implementing this practice to keep track of my ideas, plans and tasks I need to complete.

Thank you Bounce Back for giving us this immense opportunity to grow, share our thoughts, feelings and everything a human being needs to feel fulfilled and happy.

You rock!

Love, Felipe <3