My Brain is a Ferrari with Bicycle Brakes (And Why I Don’t Use It as an Excuse)

If you’ve spent more than five minutes on the internet lately, you’ve probably noticed that suddenly, everyone has a self-diagnosed case of something. It’s become trendy to slap a label on every quirk, distraction, or bad habit and use it as a get-out-of-jail-free card for why we didn’t do the dishes or answer that email.

But there is one phrase you will absolutely never hear come out of my mouth:

“I can’t help it, it’s just my ADHD.”

Don’t get me wrong—the struggle is real, and the diagnosis is valid. In fact, my history with it goes way back. As a kid, I was put on a medication called Strattera, and they had me on a very high dose just to keep my brain in the same time zone as my body. But by the time I hit middle school, I stopped taking it.

I had to figure out how to navigate a world built for “linear brains” with a brain that functions like an open browser with 47 tabs running at the same time, music playing somewhere in the background, and a loading icon spinning indefinitely.

But here is the shift I had to make as an adult: I refused to let my diagnosis become my excuse.

From Crutch to Superpower

It is incredibly easy to use our struggles as a shield to protect ourselves from personal responsibility. “I have ADHD, so I’m just going to be late.” “I have ADHD, so I just can’t focus on this.”

But when we do that, we accidentally lock ourselves in a cage of our own making. We give away our power.

Instead of looking at my fast-moving brain as a malfunction, I started looking at it as a superpower. Because the truth is, the same brain that forgets where I put my keys five seconds ago is the exact same brain that allows me to hyper-focus on things I love, creatively solve problems in seconds, think entirely outside the box, and bring an intense, passionate energy to everything I do.

I’m not broken. I’m just wired for high voltage.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Uniquely Me

When I look at how my mind works, I’m constantly reminded of Psalm 139:14 (NLT):

“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”

God didn’t slip up in the assembly line when He was making our brains. He didn’t forget a part. He made us wonderfully complex on purpose. My quirks, my hyper-fixations, my ability to see the world in vivid, non-linear color—that is all part of how I am uniquely me.

Taking personal responsibility means acknowledging the chaos but choosing to steer the ship anyway. It means saying, “Yeah, my brain wants to run a million miles an hour today, so I need to put tools in place to keep myself on track, rather than throwing my hands up and quitting.”

You Are Not Alone in the Chaos

If you’re someone whose brain runs a little differently, or if you’ve been fighting a daily battle just to stay focused and organized, please know you are not alone in that struggle.

But also know this: you are not limited by it, either.

Stop using your wiring as an excuse for why you can’t, and start looking at it as the blueprint for how you can. Your unique mind is an asset, not a liability. Lean into the strengths, laugh at the moments where you get a little distracted, and trust that the One who created your wonderfully complex brain knows exactly how to use it for His glory.

Do you have a “superpower” that the world tries to label as a weakness? How do you keep yourself moving forward without making excuses? Let’s talk about it in the comments!