Look up

I am prone to overthinking. I can stay stuck on trying to “crack the code” in resolving a problem. Unrelenting standards and perfectionism. I don’t like sitting with the unknown and waiting for things to unfold. I like to actively solve problems.

ADHD can be both a superpower to creativity and also a barrier to moving forward. I tend to go inward and ruminate and hyper-focus. I can persevere in trying to find answers and in this way I stay stuck in the past.

But I am learning to deliberately pause and to slow down. To look up and catch the sunrise or the sunset and to take in my surroundings. When I pause and reflect, I can gain perspective of a whole big wider world out there. I can approach problems from different angles and also realise that I don’t have all the information. I am learning to tolerate ambiguity and to see it as a part of life. There are variables I don’t have control over.

In the context of this photograph of the sunrise in the Drakensberg mountains, I feel humble. Past problems and failures fade into old well worn memories. And then with a healthy dose of self compassion, I remind myself: “That was then, and this is now”.