Put a bulletin board on your wall and make it a happiness board.

I’ve always had difficulty with personal “deadlines” and “goals”. I wave at them as they pass by unfinished or, in most cases, not even started. However, I have found a way to turn my wants, needs and desires into visual reminders. I’ve learned that the more my mind is reminded of something in a pleasant, pressure free way, the more likely I am to do it. Because of this I created a visual “happiness board”. It’s on the wall just above my desk where I write every day.

When I was writing One Boy’s Struggle, I created a mock-up cover and pinned it to my happiness board. I set no deadline to complete the book, but somehow that picture reminded me every day that I would finish it and, I did!

Today I would like to pass on my heartfelt thanks to you, the readers! Thanks for the opportunity to write about something that means so much to me! Well, I’ve thought a lot about what I want to write in this post, but there are no perfect words, so please allow me to skip directly to the gift giving!

In the tradition of the holidays and to pass on my deepest thanks to you, I am giving away my latest eBook, How to be Happy Every Day – Even if you have ADHD. It is my holiday gift to you. Click Here. Download link now available in the free eBooks group on our ADHD social network (updated 2/12/12)

“Today is a day the Lord has made and I shall rejoice and be glad in it!”

~Me, today.

I still remember the very first time I thought I was in love. I did not yet know what love was, but going back in my mind, journeying back all those years to when I was just a very young boy, I know now that it sure felt like love to me. I was in love with her from the first moment I saw her. She was a princess. She was a kind of supergirl. I was crazy for her and I was going crazy in my mind about her, but I never mentioned it to her. As a matter of fact I admired her from afar and avoided close contact with her at all costs.

Do you sit alone in the dark wondering and dreaming?

What are you striving for?

For what do you aspire?

Who are you anyway?

Have you considered, deeply and thoughtfully, your mistakes and misfortunes?

Have you thought about how you can change?

Have you listened to the silence around you? What does it tell you?

Take a moment to take measure, to take in how much you have strived and tried and the effort you have put forth to please and be everything you could possibly be. How much have you given? Oh, how much must you give? Everyday, you set forth to sail the seas of aspirations and yet try to ignore them for the simple fear of failure, because you will fail, you will never measure up.

Have you noticed that ADHD and Success and Happiness are not synonymous?

Why aren’t they?

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Between the above parentheses is all the space allotted to you for giving an explanation as to why ADHD and Success and happiness are not synonymous!  Doesn’t seem like that is a fair enough amount of space? Then read on.

Since we all love rules so much, here are some rules for this exercise:

1^st: The first rule is that you may only go by your personal definition of success and happiness. (If you don’t have one, that could pose as a problem, but perhaps this assignment will free you enough to create your very own, personal definition.)

Have you noticed that adult ADHD is making more news lately? As a matter of fact I just read that approximately 65% of children with ADHD will grow into adults with ADHD, or rather ADD.  I personally suspect that the percentage is much higher. It’s impossible to know how many adults are wondering around undiagnosed, but it’s estimated to be in the millions. I was diagnosed when I was 37 and in recent years I have met a remarkable number of adults diagnosed at a later age, some cases much later. This of course lends to the belief that ADHD isn’t real. How can so many people have it? I don’t know, but we do.

In love and happiness, for better or worse, in sadness and sorrow.

The days go by, countless they pass. I remember the days gone by, the walks late at night and your glistening hair in the moon light. I remember those days. I remember running across a bridge to capture your heart as you captured mine.

For better or worse, I may be flawed, but I love you.

I never thought there was a love so strong, so powerful. I never thought someone could capture me in rapture and delight, in pain and misery and in happiness and laughter. Life is all of those things, as is love. And love, my dear, is life. Without your love I was lost, with your love I have been found.

I am so lucky. For so long I wasn’t.

Have you ever wondered about what success means to you? I mean, what it really means? Not just the definition, but rather what it feels like to be successful, to achieve something of significant relevance to you? I think for people with ADHD, like me and maybe you, the very word and the meaning of success is alien. We have read about it and heard about it and yet, rarely have we identified with it.

Are you successful?

 If that seems like a loaded question, it’s not, but I think to a lot of us, it seems that there may be some hidden implication within the question itself. If you say yes, then you are lying and displaying conceitedness! How dare you! Bow your head in proper shame. That’s not the voice from someone else; as a matter of fact it’s not a voice at all. It’s a perception that many of us have. It’s a rather solid perception too, because without hesitation we can back it up with a long list of failures that will cut us to the quick faster than we can even think. But, there’s more to it.