Do You Feel Different?

Finding your way to joy & happiness

I grew up in a loving family home. I felt cared for and supported. My vision of the future was conceived from this experience and that of TV families on The Cosby Show and Family Ties. How was I to know life would look more like a combination of Life Goes On, Glee, and Modern Family?

As a pre-teen, I became aware of the realities of my own family that lay below the surface - financial hardships, agoraphobia, sex and drugs, and my view of others started to morph from idealistic to realistic.

As a young kid, I sensed I was "different" because I was not as social as my sisters and not as confident as others. Coupled with the feeling of anxiety and rebellion rolling through the house, by the age of eleven I found alcohol to quench my own poor self-esteem and the crumbling disillusion of my perfect world.

Only in my early twenties could I identify with the label of "introversion," but was overtaken by the stigmas society held - loner, anti-social, abnormal, second class, un-extrovert. My own reconciliation was years away.

I often lamented the seemingly harder road I was dealt, hiding my true nature in the predominantly verbose, confident, extroverted environment of corporate America.

However, the tide of my sadness, struggle, and shame started to turn when I found love at 24 with a woman who loved ME with all my quirkiness and flaws. I finally had a place to take off my mask and explore my true self.

Three short years later our first child was born. Gwendolyn has Down syndrome. Though she certainly didn't fit the mold of a "normal" family, we embraced her with joy and amazement. She has taught me a lot about authenticity and perseverance.

Soon Gwendolyn was joined by Madolyn and finally Noah. Our home of five was complete and became my oasis amidst a work-life filled with anxiety and stress.

Years later during their teens, Maddie and Noah would embrace and share that they were gay. I marvel at their courage and confidence to stand tall and declare their true selves regardless of the challenges.

As I reflect, we each battle well-established stigmas and cultural stereotypes, whether being gay, having special needs, or being introverted. Each provides us with challenges that most may wish not to confront initially, yet they are the spice of life. I marvel at how fortunate Jennifer and I are to have found each other and raised such a beautiful family, filled with kids who continue to model and teach us every day. They serve as the catalyst for my transformation at work.

I've realized those differences are what make us unique and wonderful. Once we accept that for ourselves and embrace our true selves then our dreams can finally be within reach.

As these "differences" accumulated in my life, I also realized I was choosing different career paths - trading less alluring energy products (Fuel Oil, LPG, Bitumen/Asphalt) instead of the perceived glamour of Crude Oil or Gasoline. I was just drawn to shine outside the spotlight - learning and making a difference in more customized business areas. Maybe that accommodated my awkwardness and timidity as I still worked to understand and champion my own introversion.

Now, I realize mine is perhaps the road less traveled. As Robert Frost so eloquently shared in the last stanza of his 1916 poem, "The Road Not Taken,"

"

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

"

I am so grateful for my path, for the special people in my life who help me learn and

grow, love and share. Now I realize everyone is different and I try to celebrate such diversity together.