A diagnosis can feel freeing, giving us a word to discuss
But sometimes the diagnosis itself can hold us back
Consider how…
A wandering mind, such as those with ADHD, may struggle with motivation, but you are not mindless.
“My ADHD mind makes me do…”
“My ADHD mind stops me from…”
We could replace ‘ADHD mind’ with many other possibilities — “depression, trauma, etc …”
Such controversial statements readily show up throughout social media, each laden within turmoil and thought.
Of course, the phrases are understandable.
We want to be able to care, both for ourselves and within our relationships. We want to be able to explain our struggles to those with whom we spend time.
What a relief it might be to have others understand the depth and complexity of our difficulties, especially when we can have such hardship in even explaining it to ourselves.
But like any medicine, these phrases carry a potential poison.
They say that we are compelled or cannot do something because of something else. Whatever truth there may or may not be to them, when we focus on them entirely, we repeat a mantra that we have *no agency*, we are helpless, and must bow to the world’s mercy.
When we pay our greatest attention to what holds us back, our injuries and pains, the act itself risks becoming another layer of something holding us back.
While it is absolutely important to see the potholes in the road, it is also important to pay attention to the paths between them.
Beyond a consideration of how we are affected by any condition, we can reflect on these paths between the potholes with the vital questions:
Where can I act?
What are my options?
What choice can I make and pursue?
– Kourosh
PS Consider for a moment, the next time you feel that you are sinking into defeat, could either of these questions help you begin crawling out from its cold embrace, as tiny as the answer may be?
PSS If you’re interested in stepping up your game:
– Find calm focus one step at a time [here]
– Master OmniFocus, the power tool for task management [here]
– Organize your digital life and have your ideas and files at your fingertips [here]
– Go beyond productivity to find mastery and meaningful work [here]
– Guide the power of a wandering mind [here].
