Renaming ADD

by Brenda on January 23, 2010

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I have decided that Attention Deficit Disorder is not exactly descriptive of how we experience life.

We pay plenty of attention. That’s actually part of the problem - we pay attention to everything all at once.

The real problem is not attention; it’s action, or lack thereof.

ADD should stand for Action Deficit Disorder, not Attention Deficit Disorder.

We read that we should have fish oil in our diet, so we rush out and buy some. And we take it; for about 3 days. Then we forget. Now and then we say, “I should really be taking that fish oil”, but do we? Not so much.

Or we see a TV show about organizing your kitchen and think “wow - great idea”. Then we go buy the stuff we need, tear the kitchen apart, and organize maybe one cupboard before we’re off to the next great thing.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

Or maybe we hear about how good yoga is for ADHD, and we think “I should try that”, but we never do.

Do you see?

We don’t have trouble paying attention; we have trouble taking action and continuing to take action until the job is done.

We hate that we have a messy house or a cluttered purse or whatever, but what do we actually do about it? Collecting all the great ideas in the world isn’t half as effective as getting one mediocre idea and putting it to use.

Action, not attention. That’s the answer.

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Eren Mckay January 25, 2010 at 10:51 pm

Brenda - you hit the nail on the head with this post. That is precisely what I have found too.
So my new years resolution has been to move forward in action regardless of how I feel. Taking action is my goal for 2010 and so far I have been truly sticking to it.
I’m living off of to do lists and have been able to move forward with them constantly by my side. I second changing the name of this disorder
Blessings,
Eren

Brenda January 26, 2010 at 2:24 pm

Thank you Eren! Glad to know I’m not the only one! Taking action is one of my resolutions for 2010 too, but I suspect you are doing better than me. Still, any action is better than none at all.

Shoaib January 27, 2010 at 9:45 pm

I think this is common problem in our life. However it is true that we can not take actions for every thing seems good or come to our notice. Therefore, we need to have some priorities fixed and we only can work on those limited priorities. Set up limited goals in every facets of life and then take action on it then you will feel life worthy to live.

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