For all my self-perceived unproductivity, I never stop working. Ever. From morning to night I am pushing myself to be productive. Oh, there are distractions aplenty, to be sure. I don't plan them in, and they throw off my schedule. Then I am tempted to scowl aplenty while I scurry around trying to salvage my day.
I've been doing that a lot lately. Tonight, however, I gave myself permission to spin. I got in my car, drove to the grocery store, and loaded up with licorice. It's National Licorice Day again, don't you know? What a festive time of year where grown men can buy vast amounts of candy and shock cashiers across the nation. Most cashiers can't imagine liking licorice enough to purposefully buy six different kinds of it. Perhaps Hallmark is at fault. I couldn't find any National Licorice Day cards to share with friends and family.
I'm certainly not eating it all tonight, but it was fun to splurge on some fancier types I don't usually get. I sampled one of each flavor tonight then tucked them away, and I'm sure my girls will help my expanding waist when they arrive next week by relieving me of the burden of oversampling.
Those of us with ADHD that stress over unproductivity need an occasional break to guiltlessly spend time on a harmless whim. We have ADHD. We get whims. I spend so much effort clamping down on them that I feel I am a bit boring, to be honest. So tonight I let loose for a short while, and now I'm back to work.
Maybe you can let yourself give in to a creative or culinary whim. Let your hair down, so to speak, and enjoy your zany mind. Because I allowed myself to follow my whim, I had a fun conversation with the cashiers and learned that today was also National Grilled Cheese Sandwich day. I then learned that I missed International Cleavage Day last week. Isn't every day Cleavage Day online? Well, now there's a holiday for it. My life is enriched.
Well, OK. Maybe not. But I met new people and laughed and got out of the apartment, three things that would not have happened if I had rigidly clamped down on that whim. It was a simple whim: You should go buy some licorice to celebrate today. And so I did.
Obviously, if your whim is "Hmm, maybe I should knock over a bank," I would recommend clamping down on it. But let me know what harmless whims you like to give free rein to. Do you feel that letting yourself be fully ADHD sometimes is healthy?
Follow me on Twitter as @SplinteredMind. I also explore iPhone photography with Instagram as douglascootey (peek). And if you're a glutton for punishment you can friend me on Facebook as well, or find me on Path where I explore my coping strategy process.
