[ Home ] [ Sponsors Aides ] [ Sponsorship Topics ] [ Recovery Retreats ] [ Big Book Aides ] [ StepWork ] [ Spiritual Aides ] [ Prayers ] [ For The Slipper ] [ Tools ] [ Downloads ] [ Recovery Voices ] [ SlowGuns ] [ 12 Step History ] [ 12 Step Programs ] [ All The 12's ] [ Affirmations ] [ Poems ] [ Quizzes ] [ Sober Giggles ] [ Help ] [ Links ] [ Awards ] [ Resources ] [ Donations ] [ Contact Us ]

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D.

Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my lawn. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, 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 Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye - they need to be watered.  I set the Coke down on the counter, and I 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 I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will 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 living room where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some 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 lawn isn't watered,

the car isn't washed,

the bills aren't paid,

there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,

the flowers don't have enough water,

there is still only one check in my check book,

I can't find the remote,

I can't find my glasses,

I don't remember what I did with the car keys,

... and my neighbor called to tell me he turned off the hose
that was flooding the driveway.

 Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, 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.
Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent.  Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming.