James Durban, Aspergers and the Difference Between Diagnosing and Labeling

 I don't know everything about this guy but what I do know so far .. is simply amazing. He was diagnosed with Tourettes and Aspergers ( a form of Autism) early in life and yet has broken through with his voice and acting.

What I appreciate about James is that not only is he willing to try all these things despite his challenges - he's willing to admit he has the challenges, he even embraces them!

He knows the difference between a diagnosis and a label.

As I wrote in on article on my own struggle with mental illness, 

"Diagnosing is not labeling – please know the difference. Correct diagnosis can free someone – like the truth. The root problem is treated and the symptoms lessen or disappear altogether. Labeling ignores the root problem and only brings the person down further – they often even tend to become more like the label."

James can be ( and probably is) a huge role model for all of us but especially those who suffer with similar issues. Way to go James - way to get on stage,  tics and all.

I'm pulling for this kid.

 Read and watch his story here:
How James Durban is Overcoming Tourettes and Asperbergers

Perfect Peace (by Annie Johnson Flint)

Perfect Peace

by Annie Johnson Flint

 

I do not look back

 God knows the fruitless efforts,

The wasted hours, the sinning, the regrets;

I leave them all with Him who blots the record,

And mercifully forgives and then forgets.

I do not look forward

God sees all the future,

The road that, short or long, will lead me Home.

And He will face with me its every trial,

And bear for me the burdens that may come.

I do not look around me

Then would fears assail me,

So wild the tumult of earth’s restless seas,

So dark the world, so filled with woe and evil,

 So vain the hope of comfort or of ease.

I do not look in

For then am I most wretched,

My self hath not on which to stay my trust.

Nothing I see save failures and shortcomings,

And weak endeavors crumbling into dust.

But I look up –

 Into the face of Jesus.

For there my heart can rest, my fears are stilled;

And there is joy and love and light for darkness,

And Perfect Peace, and every hope fulfilled.