January 12, 2009
Curse or Gift?
There’s an interesting discussion going on over at Jeff’s ADD Mind blog about whether ADHD is a curse or a gift (be sure to read the comments):
Post 1: The Curse that Keeps on Giving
Post 2: The Gift vs. The Curse
I have a slightly different take on it – the curse IS the gift. Of course, it’s really hard to see it that way sometimes (trust me, I know), but if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, you can get a feel for what the apostle Paul was saying:
“…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” -Romans 5: 3-4
Of course, it’s really difficult to have hope when you’ve gotten in a needless argument with a loved one for the 1,475th time, but as we learn to at first cope with, then overcome, the things we struggle most with in life, we will see that the things that “cursed” us the most also taught us the most. When I get really down about my ADHD problems, I can sometimes take solace in the idea that in a way, struggle and suffering in life is good for us.
What do you think? What gives you hope in the midst of dealing with the “curse” of ADHD?
August 9, 2007
New Goal (Daily Goal #4): Set aside time for my spiritual life
I consider myself to be a fairly spiritual person (though not as calm and peaceful as I’d like to be) and I have strong Christian beliefs. My desire to be peaceful is one of the driving forces in my quest to manage my ADD.
So, I’ve decided to add another daily goal: to read at least one chapter from the New Testament of the Bible daily, and to meditate/pray every day for at least 5 minutes. To a “non-ADD” person, meditating may come easily, but for me it’s a struggle to clear my mind and sit still at all, so 5 minutes is my initial goal. Hopefully, that time can increase in the near future.
It’s sad to me that I have to write this on a list to remember to do it, since I want to put God first in my life, but my mind wandering all around makes that difficult. I’m hoping that by “forcing” myself to do it for a while, that I’ll get used to it being a daily thing, and the benefits of calming myself regularly and having a better relationship with God will become apparent.
I’ve thought about adding meditation to my daily routine for a while, but it was actually this article about kids with ADD and Tai Chi that helped me finally decide to do it: http://www.massagemag.com/Magazine/2003/issue101/research101.3.php
And here is a related article with additional “Stress-Busters”: http://add.about.com/od/adultadd/a/stress.htm
If you use any meditation or spiritual methods for dealing with your ADD, please comment!