I hear people say all the time that they have ADHD. When I ask them about it they usually respond with something similar to having a difficult time focusing in class. They get tired and start to doodle or see something going outside of where their focus is supposed to be. I usually laugh to myself when people say that. I laugh because they really don't know the struggles we have to face. When you have ADHD and you are in school, it is not as simple as just not wanting to focus. We do want to focus but they way our minds work is something different. We draw connections to the farthest thing possible from the topic. For example, if we are sitting in class, and we can be anywhere in the room, and we see a butterfly flying around outside the room the process begins. We see the butterfly and think, "Oh! That is a cool looking butterfly, I remember watching a show about monarch butterflies on TV. They also talked a lot about bugs on that show. Beetles are weird looking bugs. They were also a weird looking band. They had that one song that talked about yellow submarines. Submarines are totally tubular! Swimming around the oceans all stealth like. I wonder what happens when they come up to a school of fish. Do fish ever attack subs? Fish make really good meals. I'm hungry now, when's lunch? Well lunch is 7th period, and it's currently 5th period which is math class. What is my teacher talking about now?" I've tried to explain this to people in the past and they usually get lost somewhere along the process. We can be focused on the subject matter in front of us but we will end up saying something like "do fish ever attack subs?". People will look at us confused because they never really heard the thought process just just went through our heads.
The problem is not just that we get distracted easily. It's that we are also hyper focused. We need to know how everything works and why it works the way it does. I think that is one of the biggest reasons I do sound engineering and occasionally run lights at my church. They require so much focus and a understanding of why you are doing what you are doing to make something sound better that helps me excel. Being hyper observant and focused is part of what gets us in trouble sometimes. When I start on a project, I have to get it finished. If I'm really into working out a problem or figuring out how something works, I need to figure it out before I work on something else. If I can't finish what I'm working on I get irritated, stressed, and the rest of my day can be ruined. At the same time, it is a super power of ours to be hyper focused. When we get in "the zone" with whatever we are doing, there is nothing that will draw our focus away, except maybe someone trying to mess with whatever are doing. Nothing can distract us. Not, always, hunger. Not the time of day, parents, friends nothing. Getting into "the zone" is really nice for me. I do a lot of my best thinking in those moments. When I get hyper focused on something, all other noises are drowned out and my "blindfolds" go on. I always struggled in school on just about any test I took. I struggled because we were not allowed to listen to music while we took the test. I understand why they said no music, because kids cheat and would figure out a way to have the answers playing through their headphones. I get that. I respect that. But for myself, living with ADHD, having music playing, loud enough for me to block out any other noise helps me concentrate and keep my eyes where they need to be. If I don't have that I'm more likely to hear other people writing or moving and I have to know who it is and why they are moving. I lose focus and off topic.
One thing that not many people know about people with ADHD is that schedules are very important to us. If you tell me that breakfast is at 7am, work starts at 8am, lunch is at 12, there is a meeting at 3 and it will end at 4. All those things must start and end on time. If you tell me that a meeting will end at 4 and we get to 4:05 and we are still talking, I start getting uneasy. By 4:20 I'm mentally checked out and done listening and going into my own little world wondering when will this meeting be done because I have things I want or need to do, and irritated because we have gone so far over and haven't kept to the schedule.
As much as having ADHD has been a hindrance to me, with the more sensitive personality, constant running mind, lack of understand from others, etc. Having ADHD has also been a blessing. A blessing in the sense that because of this disorder, I am able to find greater appreciation for the little things. At least things that seem little to others. When you look at this picture, you see a beautiful sunrise. I see so much more than that. I see the golden sun rising in the horizon, over the hill, breaking through the clouds that are condensed water. Which has eventually filled the lake that has frozen over because of the bitter cold winter. I see the sun reaching out towards the trees which have lost all of their leaves and are now a bit more frightful but also more beautiful with the bright white snow covering the ground and cabins but failed to cover the white, yellow and green sign in the foreground of the picture. I see a sense of peace and calm in the picture. As if everything is right in the world at this moment and things will be ok. That God is really in control and has an never ending love for us. So if you know someone who has ADHD, I know they can be a bit weird, I know I am pretty weird, be patient with them. I hope you have a new understanding and appreciation of why people with ADHD are the way they are. It is not easy to have it. But God loves us anyways and we love people. I do because God has chosen to love me first.
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