Have you ever wondered where the terms grumpy, sober, crochety, cranky, crabby old man or old woman came from? It’s a stereotype, right? The words go well beyond the physical pain and loneliness that accompanies aging; it becomes a matter of perception. Why old people and why now?
Seriously, you could use these adjectives to describe half of the people you know, and it has nothing to do with age.
Maybe, you’ve always been an empty glass kind of person. What if you found out that there was a reason for your personality quirks, or lack of quirks. What if you hadn’t been dismissed as odd because you were a little different.
What if there was a reason why you always seemed distant, cranky, grumpy or distracted. Fitting in just wasn’t your thing. What if your parents, teachers, even your friends understood that you weren’t being deliberately obtuse. You were just being you?
Neurologists, psychologists, and other professionals now believe that people like you are simply wired differently. You are not, never had been, damaged goods. Neurodivergent is the term used now and it takes in a wide berth of personality issues. It’s not a bad thing. Some of the best works by scientists, artists, and a host of other loners are now considered groundbreaking. We all benefit by the miracles wrought by people who were long considered “different.”
Many neurodivergent individuals have learned how to cope by masking their feelings, or lack of feelings, but a diagnosis is important. It is difficult to go about the business of coping if you don’t know why you are the way you are.
Granted, it is harder to accept yourself and your idiosyncrasies as you grow older. It becomes harder to keep your mask in place, but that doesn’t mean you are a bad person. Keep trying, put a smile on your face and hug someone, it won’t kill you. Understanding is everything. Instead of thinking, feeling, what’s wrong with you, you can focus on everything that is right with you. You aren’t cranky, you just a profound thinker.
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