Andrew: Small update, with a question or two for others!
First to the questions; has anyone looked into ADHD or has ADHD? (…)
Watching a few videos, I really saw that the traits match my MO in many ways.
Hi Andrew,
I personally don’t know much about the condition called Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, only that applying this label has put a large number of people, especially children, on a psychiatric drug regiment, whereas in previous generations a great amount of physical activity seems to have taken care of the abundant energy young people have. I am aware that this is a non-professional and very simplified summary but it might nevertheless work for you. Sophisticated psychological labels tend to put you in a specific box and generally are not helpful to examine the reasons which prevent you from feeling good.
I also remember that ‘Vineeto’, when ‘she’ studied social work at university and learnt about all sorts of psychological/ psychiatric disorders, ‘she’ was curious and eager to find out if they fitted to ‘her’ as well – a common ‘self’-centric reaction.
For the aim of feeling good, come what may, it is more useful to individually respond to the factual personal observations you have described below and then assess each moment if what prevents you from feeling good now in terms of being silly or sensible – and then get back to feeling good.
Andrew: I can barely sit still for 15 minutes (unless I am interested, then an hour is possible, maybe!). Never have been able to. Will daydream constantly, procrastinate to the last minute, every time, constantly distracted, can become obsessed in an interest, only to drop it.
Most jobs I have had have lasted between 6 months to 2 years, the longest was 4 years.
Constantly bored from the earliest years unless I could completely get lost in drawing, cubby building, music or fantasy.
For instance, when you discover a certain pattern in your behaviour you can investigate possible underlying reasons – a habitual response or a certain feeling you are perhaps trying to avoid or shying away from and go from there. Perhaps running away from uncomfortable feelings has been a long-standing habit (perhaps an acquired survival mechanism at an early age) and you may find, on closer inspection, that such avoidance is no longer necessary now that your life-circumstances have changed, i.e. you are no longer a helpless child or youngster, and never will be again.
Andrew: To round this post out with how I am feeling and going overall; I am enjoying increasing simplicity in how I think and feel about Actualism and the method, what I can do about it in this moment, and the tools I have to work with. For example, I am becoming more obsessed with simplicity itself in thinking. Not letting myself get caught up in long considerations, letting it all “simmer” on the back burner if nothing is obvious about any topic. The main goal is to be more and more aligned with “benevolence and benignity “, aka pure intent. The life devotional goal. (…) (link)
What stands out in this paragraph is the description of “becoming more obsessed” as if “not letting myself get caught up in long considerations” is another psychiatric disorder instead of a beneficial change, which you can appreciate and for which you can pat yourself on the back.
While it is great to have a “life devotional goal”, why not start with something more easy and simple – feeling good – with the sincere intent to be more and more happy and harmless and making enjoying and appreciating this moment of being alive the first “devotional goal”.
It seems to work well so far and bears some tangible results.
Cheers Vineeto