Hi,
my name is Jon
I started
tic-ing when I was about ten (I am 38 now) I used to do all sorts of
strange and bizarre movements but as I got older it became mostly twitches
in my face, I suppose it makes me look pretty odd to many people.
I am
very lucky because no one has ever teased me about my tics – sounds
crazy doesn’t it? None of my friends have ever even mentioned it to
me – I’m sure that other people, people who were not my friends might
have made fun of me but I didn’t notice. The point is that I just got
on with being me – I ignored my twitches and so did my friends – and
I have many friends.
I sometimes
thought that T.S. might interfere with the things I wanted to do – but
it never has. I think that tics come from having a crazy amount of nervous
and creative energy and that it just has to come out somewhere – like
a hot spring geyser bursting out of the ground (and most people think
those are really cool – right?)
In
fact I know that my friends think I’m pretty cool too, people like the
energy and spark that you and I have, it is an attractive feature.
I used
to feel that I was different from everyone else – I’ve still never met
anyone else who twitches (yes, really!) – but now I realise that it’s
because I am different!
I used
to think that everyone was pretty much like me (but without the tics)
– but now I know I’m mostly wrong. Most people have nowhere near the
amount of energy and drive that you and I have. For example, I can play
all sorts of musical instruments, I’ve travelled the world, I’ve been
an actor, a singer, played in bands, run my own business, put up and
taken down buildings, worked as an architect, jumped out of aeroplanes,
climbed mountains – I’ve done loads of really great stuff.
You
probably have lots of abilities and lots of stuff you want to do too.
Most
people haven’t done loads of stuff – most people have done surprisingly
little.
Tics
are annoying and worrying too – and sometimes they are very tiring and
I wish they would go away – but doctors told me they would go away when
I was 11 and they never did so I guess I’ll just have to live with them
– and so will you.
I’m
not friends with my tics, they are very hard to control, but they have
not stopped me doing anything I wanted to do, I have a beautiful wife,
three children, and I’m an airline pilot, so tics haven’t done me any
harm really have they?
So
just try to be you, and harness the energy that makes you tic because
that’s the energy that makes you tick.
