Feel free to participate in this activity.
I really think you will find this insightful, discovering that your brain is truly special and you’re wired in a unique way that cannot be undone.
Let’s turn back the page of time, to a distant beginning. Recall a memory that you first noticed brain, reaction, or problem solving that seemed unusual. In that moment you may have reacted differently than most to the world around you. Maybe you were a daydreamer. Zoning out was a common occurence. Maintaining focus was a struggle, to the point it affected school grades.
We might have even have been told that we were losers (gasp!). A very loving parent might have whispered into our ears “you’re special!” (I hope that was your case). Realistically, your parents were probably confused or frustrated, not knowing what to do with you, hoping you would grow out of it.
Let’s explore those feelings.
Table of Contents
Super powers or super lost?
Right now, take a paper and make two columns. At the top of the first column, write “Super Powers” and the second column entitle it “Lost”.
Now let your brain do what it does best: drift. Lift up the clouds of the past and think those events that were early signs of a budding, beautiful brain. Even picking up the struggles are clues that can help with tackling present struggles. Slide the memories into the best-fit column.
I will give you a glimpse onto my page:
- An early babysitter recalled how I was full of nonstop questions, always wanting to know “why?”
- I avoided other children, and was a loner throughout high school (speaking to my introvert side).
- I was drawn to the arts, languages, and theatre in high school.
- Daydreaming and zoning out were common for me.
- Wrapping scarves around my neck comforted me, and it wasn’t winter (it helped me focus).
- I became a night owl in a desperate attempt to find peace and concentrate.
- I would always opt for a solo report vs a group project.
- In work life, the unique and novel ideas mostly currently come from me.
- My superpowers involve a history of vastly different interests/projects that are unrelated to each other.
Your lists, of course, will be different. I did well in school, but you may have struggled – and in your adult life, may achieved pretty amazing things that contradicted your early start.
Have you ever looked back before, considering those seeds and signs? There’s therapy in seeing where you have come from and a HUGE credit given to you for what you have figured out.
What did the knowledge of a disorganized brain change? I didn’t seek help, or take a pill. I paid more attention to how I responded to things… and I started to hack my brain.
–ReneesRabbitHole
An article that opened my eyes
I did not grow up in a time where ADD/ADHD were common terms. Even if I had, no one would have picked up on the idiosyncrasies that colored my scatter-brained life.
I was a young mother in the 1990s, and books were just starting to come out talking about “attention deficit”. I remember the day when I came across some magazine article talking about women with ADD – definitely soon to be a buzzword.
I stopped. It took my breath away. I wasn’t prepared or was looking for answers seemd to come out of nowhere with a full explanation of the way my brain was wired. I’ve held onto that article for years because it truly was life changing to have this information.
Yet, what did it change? I didn’t seek help, or take a pill. I did start to drink coffee for focus! I paid more attention to how I responded to things… and I started to hack my brain.
There was no real solid advice for digging myself out of my hole, it was just observation. I did start picking up self-help books to garnish a tip or two. I have to say as a whole, they were all the same, just telling me my brain was different, not necessarily giving me rock-solid tips to live with it.
I have a feeling it’s the same for you old-timer’s, too (and youngins’). We figured it out what worked best for us in our situation. Now there’s a whole marketing push to sell fidget sticks and pills, of course. I prefer the natural route.
I know imy brain better than any professional could, because we have been friends for a long time! I’ve come a long way and like myself. That’s worth something.
#inthistogether -Renee
