Wired Differently

𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞… 🎉

A while back I was diagnosed with ADHD… not exactly a shock to anyone who knows how my mind spins with ideas and refuses to live inside society’s box.

Honestly, after digging into what that diagnosis really means, so many moments from my first 48 years suddenly snapped into focus. Every late-night idea blitz, the wild bursts of creativity, the restless need to build or fix or change something—I see now that those weren’t “problems,” just parts of my wiring I never fully understood. If only I’d known earlier how to work with this brain instead of fighting it, maybe I’d have saved myself a lot of frustration.

Now, it’s like the lights came on in a room I’ve lived in my whole life. Everything finally makes sense.

Looking back, it’s no wonder I used to drive my wife crazy in our early years—spending hours way into the night, researching and building things like VOIP phone systems before they were really a thing. That obsession led me to install some of the very first systems in our area on servers I built and programmed from scratch… and now, they’re everywhere. Or how I drive my family a little nuts every time we pass an empty building, imagining what business I could create there. My kids joke that starting new businesses is just my favorite hobby.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡? I’ve never fit neatly into anyone’s mold—sometimes not even the ones built by those closest to me. I used to wear myself out trying to conform. But the more I learn about my entrepreneurial, creative brain, the more I understand: I’m wired for chasing “what if,” for building things, for seeing opportunity where others see risk. 🎨 It’s like living in a world of blank canvases—my mind is always throwing colors outside the lines.

I don’t fit in your political box either. I hate the two boxes American society has decided we have to live in. I’m just enough like one that everyone associates me with them… until I do something outside the box. Sometimes, life hands you labels—but I wear mine loosely, constantly reshaping them with new brushstrokes.

To be honest, I enjoy making those who think I’m in their box stand back with their head spinning when I disagree with their group-think or cherry-pick an idea from the other box—or from outside both boxes entirely. Just because I mostly agree with you doesn’t mean everything you do is right. I’ll be happy to detour to my own path and call you out when you’re wrong.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭. It might look chaotic from the outside, but trust me—I’m just doing what brings me to life. Routine is someone else’s dream, not mine. 🚀 If life is a river, I’m the one paddling upstream, chasing the rapids.

Let me be clear, especially to my church family and fellow ministers: Before you get too nervous here… I’m not talking about my faith or altering my core beliefs. My doctrine, my Apostolic Pentecostal foundation, stands firm. God’s boundaries bring freedom and refreshing—His are the only boundaries I happily embrace. But in everything outside of biblically sound living? That’s where I break the box, not because of rebellion, but in search of purpose and impact.

𝐄𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 “𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲” 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. So did Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander Graham Bell, Richard Branson, Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA founder), Walt Disney, and David Neeleman (JetBlue founder)—but look at what they accomplished! If every inventor followed the script, we’d still be sitting in the dark.

What a bland world it would be if everyone squeezed themselves into the same routine. Some don’t like my way of dressing—I’ve always been outside the box. I believe God made a world and painted it colorfully. This was never more vivid to me than a recent trip to Costa Rica, seeing the wildly colored birds, frogs, plants, and fruits. And if you ever peeked in my closet, you’d see that my love of color isn’t subtle. It basically looks like a rainbow threw up in there. I get obsessed—if I find a tee shirt I like in 17 colors, I will buy them all. Then I stand in the closet for 30 minutes, not because I don’t have anything to wear, but because I have too many options. If God painted His creation so vividly, surely He doesn’t expect me to only wear black and navy. I love color. I love different. I never want to look like anyone else in the room. If I see you wearing it… be assured, it will never appear in my wardrobe if I can help it.

I get a thrilling rush from creating. I love to build, or take an old building and remodel, paint, work with graphics—and build something I can stand back and say, “WOW, I built that.” I’ve built three businesses that customers were sure were franchises because they were so well designed. That made me proud—that my local businesses didn’t look like something just thrown together, but something that stood out and stood on its own.

𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝. Every ability I have, and anything good that comes from my efforts, is from Him. Even though my brain has sometimes frustrated me, I’ve come to believe He designed it this way for a reason. The drive, the vision, even the restless energy—these are gifts, not defects. A different brain would have made my life quieter, but far less rewarding.

I’m a risk taker. I’m a visionary. I see the possible in the impossible. Where others walk away… I see potential.

I’m also horrible at organization, remembering where I’m supposed to be… or when. If I have 5 extra minutes… I feel like I have 5 hours… and get involved in something that makes me late. I have to hire people around me to do the organizing, to do the boring… or what feels boring to me. Once the vision is realized and the heavy lifting is done… and the day to day routine sets in…. I fight with boredom. I’m ready to move on to the next exciting thing.

Trying to be what others are and fit into their box is exhausting and fills me with anxiety. When I feel pressure to live in your box… I feel like a crazed animal in a cage banging against the bars to get out….. I want to run!

If you try to make me fit inside the confines of what you consider to be normal… your “box” …. Trust me.. I will kick, I will scream, I will come busting out of that like a maniac. Nothing in this world makes me have an anxiety attack faster than being forced to conform to an idea or societal concept of normalcy. I don’t care how much I love you… you try that on me and I’ll break free and run so fast you won’t know what happened. I’m exhausted from trying to be what everyone else expects. From now on… I don’t play that. Expect to hear no. Expect to have pushback. Stay over in your safe lane…. While I ride the rapids. 🌊

𝐀𝐭 𝟒𝟖 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝… While I WANT the approval of those around me… I’ve learned I don’t NEED your approval. I just need you to give me space to be me. From this day forward, the only approval I seek is that of God and the spiritual authority I have chosen for my life.

As someone who’s led in city government, business, and ministry, I’ve learned that genuine leadership isn’t about squeezing yourself—or anyone else—into someone else’s definition of “normal.” The world calls for dreamers, problem-solvers, and outliers who refuse to settle for ordinary. If you’ve ever felt like you just don’t fit… it might be because you were meant to stand out where others blend in.

If you feel “too much” or “not enough” for the boxes others give you, know this: you’re not crazy, and you’re not alone. Sometimes, the only thing “wrong” is that the box was never built for your kind of brilliance. Normal can be boring; life is much better outside the lines.

So, whatever your brain or wiring or gifts—embrace it. The world needs more originals, not more copies. Your space outside the box is where you’re meant to do your best work.

𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll want to join me outside the box—because that’s where the best things get built.

Out here, there’s room for color, for risk, for leaps of faith and wild ideas. It’s where true creativity happens, and where the most meaningful parts of life are written—not according to someone else’s formula, but with your own brush.

The world needs more builders, more thinkers, more dreamers willing to leave “normal” behind and make something extraordinary. So if you find yourself restless or a bit out of place too—maybe you’re meant for the same adventure beyond the edges.

Let’s meet out here—past the boundaries, past the safe lanes, where life is a little bolder and the possibilities are endless.
Innovation, after all, was never born from comfort zones.

𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.