Know and care for your own mind
Not all brains work the same. Today, it is common to divide them into neurotypical and neurodivergent categories. It's very popular to talk about being neurodivergent on social media platforms, and if they are algorithmic, such posts and advertisements are frequently surfaced. Before I disabled my socials, I had several related muted words.
I'm not sure why we expect all brains to work the same, except that would be more conducive to having work and school drones if they did. The mind is an amazing, adaptable thing, but sometimes we need to adapt to it. Or does it need to adapt to itself?
For example, we have recognized for decades that an individual may benefit from some modes of learning more than others. Between reading, listening, watching, and doing, a person may retain information better one way than another.
Refusal to acknowledge that the brain receives, processes, and synthesizes information differently from person to person leaves the potential power of the brain unharnessed. People learn less efficiently or think less optimally than they could otherwise when they do not have the tools and techniques best suited to their own mind.
I was prompted to write about this by Megan Carne's post, "On caring for my ADHD instead of fighting it". She says:
I've always seen my ADHD symptoms (or what younger me just thought of as "flaws") as something to overcome, something to fight back against, to beat into submission. But, as Casey [her therapist] gently pointed out, wouldn't it be better to be kind to myself? To figure out what my brain is struggling with and try to figure out ways to give it what it needs?
Just as we must be kind to others, we must be kind to ourselves. Not in an overly permissive, lackadaisical way, but in a way that acknowledges our quirks and provides a measure of grace and compassion while still finding ways to accomplish all that we are capable of.