20's Advice

A little advice would be appreciated. I am living with the inability to write (dysgraphia), to do arithmetic (dyscalculia), to see or feel fingers (finger agnosia) and to tell left from right (left-right disorientation). The name for this is Gerstmann Syndrome, a brain disease people acquire after bleeding in the brain during a stroke or traumatic head injury. Doctors are surprised to see I was born with Gerstmann Syndrome, and no one knows why.

I left home for college with dreams of law school after pouring everything into tutoring, physical therapy, occupational therapy and class from inside special education classrooms. My parents thought hard work, and a college degree could get me to my goals and beyond every time. So in high school, I applied. When I got in, I became roommates with three guys who ended up making it to the NFL. They helped me do what I could not do because of disability, and one of them tucked me beneath a bathroom sink and saved my life in a F-5 tornado. The road with PTSD and Gerstmann Syndrome has been a rocky one. Blue collar jobs are tough when you can't use your hands. White collar jobs are tough when you're bad at math. I've tried writing books. I've tried advocating for rare disease. My dream is to bring 99,713 muffins to Silicon Valley and throw a big milk and muffin party raising awareness for Silicon Valley’s tech diversity problem, but that's a long shot.

This hasn't been my year. I've spent most of it hotel to hotel and sometimes homeless. I just want to know how people deal with stress. I know you don't have to have it all figured out to keep moving forward, but what are the ways you deal with stress and uncertainty in life on the journey?