Attention Deficit Disorder

No, I don't have ADD, but I do have a neural wiring that can at times process situations and information incredibly fast. The reason why I don't have ADD is that in some areas of my life I can be quite slow. I am also very patient. Yet, I have sympathy for the people who suffer from ADD, and on occasions, people could easily misclassify me as an ADD case.


Yes, I also can be detail oriented. You should see how I write, edit, and re-edit notes like this one. Every world has to be right and the energy of the entire piece has to be on-target, otherwise I will sit on it for days and noodle everything around until it finally hangs together. When people ask me whether I do meditation I respond, "yes, I write!"


My mother-in-law had a psychology training. When she first heard about me she evaluated my personality based on my hand writing. I did not like her assessment very much. She concluded that I am careless. In fact, I was quite angry when I heard that story whereas today I would probably just laugh. Yes, I have my sloppy moments! Today an assessment like that wouldn't hurt as much because I now take much better care of the little details in the areas when it truly matters, in particular when it comes to dealing with people. I also have today much more appreciation for my big picture thinking and broad brush perceptions.


I have made a professional career around my pattern recognition abilities. I am as good as I am at what I do because I can block out the details of the tree to perceive the gestalt of the forest so to speak. But I had to learn my lessons over the years as well. Today I am surrounded by experts who do very careful in-depth work. As a team we excel working together whereas left to ourselves, we probably would miss something essential somewhere.


The message I would have for anyone who suffers from ADD, life will create the niche for you to shine. Every human has a God-given gift. A "disorder" only is one if your skills don't fit the requirements of what you are asked to do. Follow your spiritual path and GOD will create the niche for you that allows you to shine with your talents. HE will also induce you to take note of the details that you were unable to take in before. I am not claiming that a spiritual path is a stroll in the park. Life forced me to override many of my tendencies that I would have considered in-born. It was hard, and on occasions soul-wrenching work. But if I can do it, so can you!