I Am Not What I Am: A Psychologist's Memoir: Notes On Controlling and Managing Personal Misfortune - Paperback

This revision of my memoir addresses the concerns and mindsets involved in dealing with personal misfortune. In my case, the overriding misfortune is a severe form of Cerebral Palsy. It affects my speech, coordination, and locomotion. The very essence of the book is that these impairments, misfortunes though they may be, do not define me. They do not define who I am, what I believe or what I strive to offer. This book is about more than me. It is about my mom and dad and my immediate family. By their genetic and spiritual energy they gifted me with all that made them special and loving. They gifted me with the knowledge that just to exist on a day to day basis is a misrepresentation of what we must do as members of our family, citizens of our community, and our world. Thus, I learned early on that my disability was always to be controlled and never to be used as an excuse for not being an active player on the world's stage. Does the world have many stages? Certainly. With severe Cerebral Palsy I had to learn how to play my part no matter what the setting on the stage. I worked long and hard to make this book a well-focused account of what I have done and how I have done it. I want it to be an inspiration, a guide, on how to deal with some really awful stuff. I want the reader to discover happily that with a lot of hard work and a little wiggle room most misfortune can be put in its proper place. This is a happy book. I worked to fill it with all the joy of life that my family poured into my soul. In the end I want the reader to discover that, indeed, I am not what I am.