I've been punched in the gut that way a lot of times in the past, so I definitely know the feeling... For me, it's helpful to think of it that way: Your stutter it part of you, but you are not your stutter. You are YOU and YOU choose how you're going to define yourself. You are much more than your stutter. For example, I'm a singer-songwriter who also happens to have a stutter, NOT a singing stutterer or a stuttering singer. It's not what defines me or my qualities as a person.