The Upside of Loving Someone with ADHD

Loving someone who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), or any similar condition, is not always easy. There are definitely struggles, and arguments, and hard days when you love someone who is always moving, always thinking, always busy, and so easily distracted you can hardly stand it. This is especially true for someone like me, who is happy with a quiet room, a book, and nowhere to go and no one to talk to outside the people and stories I’m creating in my imagination.

The saying opposites attract is definitely true! My husband and son are the opposite of me in many ways. They are like me in other ways, but those ways are hidden beneath the layers of ADHD, so unless you’re close enough to love them you might miss them entirely.

A day that sounds heavenly to me, sounds like pure torture to them. Conversely, their dream day sounds totally exhausting to me.

But I count my blessings and thank God every day that I get to love someone with ADHD, and here are just a few of the reasons:

• They have the ability to keep going and not give up because they get tired, or hungry. I’m like a cell phone, once my battery runs down, you’re not getting anything else out of me until I recharge. They are like the Energizer Bunny, they don’t give up until the job is done no matter how tired they get. They can accomplish an amazing number of things in the course of a single day or weekend when they set their minds to it!

• They are so creative with their thinking. Often, where I see a wall that can’t be climbed they see a challenge that will be fun to tackle. Their never-give-up attitude is inspiring to me even when it secretly drives me crazy. I have seen my son build amazing things out of an empty cardboard box I would have tossed into the trash without a thought. I have seen my husband figure out a way to make our home remodel project work when I thought it was time to throw in the towel. The fact that their minds literally never rest, means they will always come up with something to do, or a solution to a problem one way or another.

• They’re blessed with an endless curiosity and the world is their oyster. They’re constant curiosity means they are always looking for the next thing they can learn, or the next thing that will spark their interest. Physical challenges are their favorite, if there’s a new tree to climb, or a new trick to learn on his skateboard, my son is happy for hours upon hours! Just like they will push their minds to new limits, they will also push their body to meet new challenges.

• My son is endlessly funny. He has such a unique way of looking at the world, and is always coming up with a creative way to see things that will leave me laughing. The endless “what if…” questions will make you see the world through his eyes and that’s a pretty beautiful way to see things.

• If you don’t know anyone with ADHD, or don’t know much about it, this one might surprise you — but when their hyper-focus kicks in, their ability to tune out the entire world and focus on a single task is amazing to witness. (Granted I wish there was a little control over what the hyper-focus lasers in on, but I’ll just stand here in amazement anyway.)

I believe that people are put in our lives for a reason, whether that reason be that we need to learn a lesson from them, or they need to learn a lesson from us. I believe that my ADHD family members were sent to me to help push me outside of my comfort zone, into the world, and away from my happy place filled with books and stories I create in my head. They are blessings to me that I didn’t even know that I needed in my life.

I am truly blessed to love people with ADHD, and I envy their superpower more often than not!

Angela is a social media and online community professional who has always dreamed of being a writer. Blogging combines two of her passions, social media and writing! She blogs about anything that strikes her fancy and is always thrilled (and a little surprised!) when someone lets her know they enjoy reading her work. You can find her on her blog www.writermomblog.com, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.