A blog with no set theme. It's kinda like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Day 15: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

Day 15: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

   I would say that I've been blessed with quite an easy "lot in life". (Knock on wood!) If it were a lot of land, it'd be located on the lake, or maybe the beach. However, I'd have to say I've been dealt a difficult hand with my auditory issue.

   I don't have a name for it so I just say I have an auditory issue. I'm chronically ADHD and not in the way that everyone labels themselves because technology has crippled our attention spans. I've got the papers to prove it. I don't know if my "auditory issue" stems from this or if it's a whole different issue. I'd like to think they go hand in hand, but that may simply be because I don't want to add to my ever expanding list of peculiarities.

   Anyhoo, I struggle with being able to focus on one noise when there are multiple noises around me--which is always. For example, sitting in a crowded (and noisy) restaurant is a specific type of hell for me. I can hear the words coming out of my table companions' mouths, but I cannot understand them. I liken it to standing in crowded room and having everyone scream different sentences all at once. It'd be almost impossible to pick out what one individual screamed--even though you heard their contribution to the screams. That's about the same level of difficulty I have when seated at a table in a crowded, noisy restaurant.

   I'll spare you the details of how I've tried to cope with this and give you the highlights. Because I try to avoid medications if at all possible and because I'm stubborn as a mule, I thought I could train myself to focus on one sound and block out all the others. After all, I trained myself to clap on a beat. And I got so good that I could even sing and clap on the beat at the same time. But enough bragging. :) I was very wrong about training myself. So I tried medication--twice. Both times I didn't like it. While the ADD is no fun, the H in there really is. I rather like having loads of energy and being easily excited! Unfortunately, the medicine took care of all the letters in my label, and I wasn't good with that. It also made me so focused on one thing that I was no longer a skilled multitasker. I wasn't good with that either. So I'm back to being unmedicated, but at least I'm excited about it!

   I wish I had a better success story so I could say the issue is fixed, but I'll settle for saying I'm coping with it. I could be plagued with something far worse.

  If anyone cared enough to get to the bottom of this long post, here's the lesson I want you to take from this. If you're talking to me and I'm smiling away and nodding my head at an inappropriate time, please know that I'm not an idiot. Chances are I have no idea what you're saying. Either let it slide or come a little closer, but not creeper close. Nobody likes that.

 

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