A very dear friend of mine is helping her dad through an illness right now. Getting through normal life with ADHD can be a challenge; I don’t have to tell you that.
But getting through a crisis with ADHD can be even harder.
The blessing is that, as hard as things might be, there is a valuable lesson there for you and those you share your life with.
In January of 2005, I was faced with a number of things: selling our house, looking for a new one in a place I didn’t know, being a “single” parent because my husband had been transferred to another state, and helping my dad take care of my mom, who had cancer.
I spent more than 6 months traveling back and forth from Indiana to Michigan. I lived half the month in one place, and the other half in another.
When life hits you hard like that, it forces you to pare down your existence to the essentials and to rely on others to help. It can force your loved ones to learn how to get along without mom for a while.
When a crisis hits, ADHD or not, your world suddenly becomes very focused. You concentrate on what’s important and learn to let the rest fall away. You go back to basics.
Your husband, who may have believed that you did a poor job managing the household may find out how hard it is. Maybe your kids will too.
People will find out how much they love one another and how much they depend on them and what’s really important in life.
And you may find that ADHD is only a small part of who you really are and that it really doesn’t matter, in the great scheme of things, whether or not you can balance your checkbook or get anywhere on time.
Difficult things come to all of us, whether or not we expect them or want them to; they are a part of life and no one is exempt.
Yes, they can be heartbreakingly hard to get through, but we do just the same.
As they say, every cloud has a silver lining.
One Response
Great anecdote. It is very true that when a crisis hits we become more focused. It is a good challenge for those who have ADHD, and they can come out better in the end because of it. I also wonder if you (or people you known with ADHD) have tried meditation, and whether or not they have reaped any benefits from it?