A Lesson in Perseverance
If there is any trait all people with ADHD need to cultivate within themselves, it is perseverance. ADHD wreaks havoc in all areas of an ADHDer’s life. This causes many struggles in many areas. In short, more often than not, things will not go the way an ADHDer wants them to go. What is needed in those times of struggle is perseverance, the ability to keep moving forward despite setbacks.
Meet: My Neighbor
There is an elderly gentleman in my neighborhood who goes for a walk every day at the same time (when the weather is not terrible). This guy is my hero. I do not know his name or anything about him. All I know is what I have observed. His walks hunched over and using a walker, and I have seen turtles who could destroy him in a foot race. If I had to take a guess at his age, I would guess he came over on the Mayflower.
Any time I am out and about in my neighborhood around 4:00 or 5:00, I see him moving slowly about the neighborhood. It looks like it hurts to walk, but he is out there every day. Granted, he does not go out when it is raining or when the side walks are slippery, but his dedication on non-terrible days is inspiring.
The Lesson
There is a reason my neighbor uses a walker: It is hard for him to move around. However, he chooses to move around every day, despite the difficulty. He knows that, if he decides that it is too hard and painful to take a walk every day, his mobility problems will get even worse. Exercise is a necessity for him, and he chooses every day to do the difficult thing because he knows he needs to do so. By doing the difficult thing, he proves that he can do it. He perseveres because he knows he can.
That is the lesson we can learn from him. We need to persevere and do the difficult things, not because we want to do them, but because we need to do them and we can do them. We can do the difficult things in life. We can persevere. When we know we need to do a difficult thing that we do not want to do, we need to remember there is a guy in my neighborhood who goes for a walk every day even though he can barely walk.