I decided to learn to play with the footbag this summer. I never learned hacky sack (as we called it) as a kid, nor did I play soccer, so my foot to eye coordination needs a lot of work. However, in November of 2010 I injured my pelvis, so I'm not very limber. On top of that, I spent the past twenty years with a chronic motor tic disorder. It's abated finally, which has allowed me to be more physical, but my coordination was damaged by it. In short, I'm terrible at footbagging!! However, I am determined. Getting fit is one of my goals for Life2.0. I'm biking and running, and maybe footbagging can play a part.
I loaded up Youtube, found a great footbag tutorial, and started working on the front kick. Today I kicked and caught the footbag five times in a row in each hand. Such a feeble goal and it took two days of practice!! Laughably pathetic, but I'm thrilled still the same. As soon as I have the basics down, I'll start practicing in the sun. I need more excuses to get out instead of huddling over a keyboard inside.
I've noticed that due to ADHD and its low tolerance for frustration, there are many things in life I attempted and gave up on. Footbagging was one of them. My brother, Phil, was pretty good at it, but I was lousy each time I tried, so I quit. I never played in a circle once, always afraid of stinking at it in front of the other guys. I made so many mistakes publicly because of ADHD. It seemed prudent to me to not set myself up for more embarrassment.
Now I know that everything requires a little bit of work at first, then we can expect results. Makes me wonder how much else I gave up on, and how much more I'm capable of. ADHD has been the cause of so much anxiety for me over the years. I never saw myself as a quitter, but what else can you call it when a low tolerance for frustration causes you to drop things and move on all the time? Sure, ADHD's intolerance for boredom can account for a lot of that. Repeating something over and over again to get better at it can be boring, but impatience with failure is different. I have a lot of that.
So I'll practice the footbag and force myself to do it publicly. I'll use ADHD's strengths and hyperfocus on the task for a few weeks. I don't anticipate joining a league of quadragenarian footbaggers, but maybe I might join life a little bit more than I have. Meet some people. Say "Hi." I might surprise myself and even have fun making mistakes. ADHD doesn't have to be a shadow over my life. I'd prefer getting out in the sun.
How often did you quit things because of frustration? Leave a comment below.
Work on my ADHD book on iPhones is coming along. I've decided not to review Wunderlist at this time, tho. Instead, I'll focus on finishing my eBook, then post reviews of all the apps I covered in the eBook when I finish it by the end of this month. That's my goal. I'll still continue to blog here. Any support you give will be appreciated. I hope I continue to provide interesting blogs for you. Thanks for reading.
