MAR 2, 15 .. A.A.A.D.D. .. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME !!

My friend Shaddy sent me the below .. I have modified it slightly .. I have no idea where it came from.

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Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder (AAADD) .. KNOW THE SYMPTOMS ..

Thank goodness there’s a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!  Recently, I was diagnosed with AAADD.

This is how it manifests: I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier and I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table, I go through the mail and I decide to put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

I decide to put the junk mail back on the table and take out the garbage first. Then I think, since I’m going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Pepsi I’d been drinking. I’m going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Pepsi aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over. The Pepsi is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the  kitchen with the Pepsi, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye–they need water. I put the Pepsi on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.  Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I’ll be looking for the remote, but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flower’s vase, but quite a bit of it spills on to the floor. I set the remote back on the table, get some paper towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the car isn’t washed .. the bills aren’t paid .. there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter .. the flowers don’t have enough water .. there is still only 1 check in my check  book .. I can’t find the TV remote .. I can’t find my glasses .. and I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.

When I try to figure out why nothing got done today I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I’m really tired. I realize this is a  serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it, but first I’ll check my  e-mail ..

Shaddy concluded with .. Do me a favor.  Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don’t remember who I’ve sent it to.

Don’t laugh if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!
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A writing such as the above is as funny it can possibly be BECAUSE it is so true for some of those who read it.

In November of 1994 .. I will never forget this .. while living in San Francisco I went through an episode very similar to the above writing. When I sat down and took-stock of the situation I said rather solemnly to myself ..

“I feel like I AM LOSING IT! ” .. “I wonder IF early onset Alzheimer’s Disease is overtaking me.”

I was in fact so concerned that after a discussion with Patti I made an appointment with the Virgina Mason Medical Center in Seattle Washington to be evaluated.

After a rigorous three day regimen .. and I mean a RIGOROUS three days .. during which time I kept saying over and over and over again to myself and to the the medical staff that I was working with .. that my worth as a human being does not depend upon the test results ..

Then in an exit interview .. I was given the test results.

Basically I had ‘ACED’ the tests. For my age group (I was age 58 at the time) I was far ahead of most of the norms and in fact .. I had set several new high-marks for some of the many tests.

AND?

I was told that the symptoms I was experiencing were due to Bi-Polar Disorder and not Alzheimer’s Disease.

To combat this diagnosis (I am not speaking for anyone else here!) I MUST do several things. I MUST drink adequate and healthy liquids (I basically drink water, Gatorade or similar, and Ensure) .. eat regularly .. get adequate rest (this is a real challenge because I may not always necessarily FEEL tired but I sure am getting better at it) .. STOP MYSELF when I begin to feel myself (and I certainly know when this is happening!) over-revving .. fight tooth-and-nail day in and day out with my PERFECTIONISM by repeating over and over and over again .. “I cannot be all things .. to all people .. in all places .. at all times” .. and to TOTALLY OWN AND ACCEPT my condition thanks in some very large part because of having ‘been-in-the-rooms’ since the 1970s so THAT base is covered right up to and including today.

So much so that I will candidly say to Patti and other friends and close associates that .. “The Dinkey Bird Is Singing In The Amfalula Tree” .. when my wheels are starting to come off!

Now to this matter of suicide and my friend. Here is why HE is helping me! I am seeing him .. I am watching him .. going through .. on a more or less daily basis .. scenarios like Shaddy sent me above. I am seeing in him the challenged me (when I am over-revving). And he seems totally powerless to ‘reign himself in’ and he will NOT (at least not to my knowledge and I keep asking him about it) follow his psychiatrist’s directions and suggestions (thus allowing him to join his associates since 99% simply will not do as suggested). And to some degree he sees in me the fact that I am like him but I am successfully staying away from the edge of total darkness. But I am over two times his age and I have many years of experience that he is now gaining IF we can keep him with us and not have him check-out!

I have to stop here and take a little stock of myself. Right now as I write the above I sit with the knowledge and the realization that I did NOT come here to write this Post as I am writing it. I came here to put up a totally different Post about a phenomenal visitor I met this weekend. I most certainly did NOT intend to get back into this dark subject.

And this is where God comes into the picture. With discernment there is absolutely nothing wrong with this writing. Obviously God concurs with this tack because here I am .. sailing on this course.

Yo JIMBO .. I will get to you in a future Post!

Jim talking to Patti last Sunday the 1st of March ..

Jim and myself last Sunday the 1st ..

AND YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHO JUST NOW TEXTED ME SAYING HE IS ENJOYING MY POSTS ..

YES! .. THE ONE! .. AND YES! .. THE ONLY! ..

OOPS ..

Um-m-m-m-m .. IS the Dinkey Bird NOW singing in MY Amfalula Tree ?

Lord God of Abraham Why Me? What did I ever do to deserve what you have given to me?

“The word Captain is .. GRACE!”

• ← FEB 24, 15 .. ALMIGHTY GOD AT WORK IN MY LIFE !
• MAR 9, 15 .. BACK TO ST. TERESA’S HOSPITAL .. →