On 11/21/2009 5:26 AM, Shay wrote:
> Mike Raiford wrote:
>>
>> Yes-- productivity does not mean happiness. The goal is to get myself
>> functioning properly. if I had been diagnosed in childhood, my life
>> now would definitely be different.
>
> Different, but not necessarily better. Don't get me wrong, I see
> distraction as a destructive force in the lives of many people around
> me. However, I am very focused, but wasn't even a c student. That
> homework assignment you never got around to doing? I instead tossed it
> in the trash on the way out of class. I never had any intention of
> touching it. I was focused on other things.

I think I understand where you're coming from. You obviously had very 
different priorities. I struggled to get things done and got frustrated 
with myself for letting things slide by being practically incapable of 
sticking to anything for any sustained period of time.

You are right: There are aspects of my current life I would not trade 
for anything. But there's always that looming thought wondering how I 
would have done had I been diagnosed and treated in my childhood. 
Different for sure! Better? Who knows?

> When I was in grade school, I had a private desk, facing the wall and
> separated from the other children, in almost every class room. I never
> even earn a High School diploma (but was given one anyway), and ended up
> living under a bridge shortly after my sham graduation. No distractions
> under the bridge. No video games, internet, television, telephone. And
> for me no drugs or alcohol. I was very focused, but not on anything that
> brought me conventional success. I was focused on pushups, walking, and
> writing unpublishable mini-books.
>
> Marriage has "normalized" my life since then, but I'm not sure mine is a
> life you would want. It works for me, but I'm tough enough to shrug off
> the downsides. For everything that's in focus, there are a dozen that
> are off the f***ing radar. A little ADD would make my life easier, but
> not happier.

I think I agree from the descriptions you have given. I don't think I 
could ever work on an offshore rig. It's just not something I'd ever 
want to do. Its not that the medication will cause me to alter my 
priorities, but rather help me follow through on those priorities.

-- 
~Mike

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