ADD .... or lack of self-discipline?

So there I was, just walking down the street when all of a sudden this guy comes running out of the store screaming at the top of his lungs.  I thought for sure he was being robbed or somebody got seriously wounded or perhaps they were just out of Nacho Cheese Doritos.  Whatever it was, this guy was over the top frantic.

Naturally, I ran up quickly to find out what was going on and to see if I could help.

Oh, wait .... phone's ringing.  Be right back.


Ok ... I am back.  So where was I?  Oh, never mind.  On to the next thing.

How about a post that talks about ADD.  You know, Attention Deficit Disorder.  I'll try to keep it real short for those that suffer from it.

Now I want to go on record that I do understand there is a clinical reality to this thing called ADD.  What I mean is that I know there are some who legitimately suffer from it.  I'm not one of them.  Well, yes I am.  Am not.  Am too.

It comes down to this.  I do not wish to be insensitive to those that have sought professional help with the issue of poor attention span.  I know some legitimately need to be tagged with it.  Then there's the many other of us who may be tagged with it and shouldn't be.  This is probably a number higher than we willingly admit to.

SO why shouldn't we be tagged?  Because we suffer the symptoms of ADD not because we actually have it.  No.  Instead, we suffer from something else: LOSD. Lack Of Self Discipline.  LOSD is a crazier script than LOST (yeah, you know you've watched it).  You start into things and then allow yourself to move on to something else or you simply avoid altogether that thing you should be doing.

Why do you do this?  Well, I'm sure there are a number of reasons.  I'm not a doctor, don't have a degree in psychology or psychiatry, so asking me why gets answers with a caveat: this is an untrained professional on a closed course.  Do not try this at home.

The fact of the matter is before I'm willing to accept the tag of ADD for myself or for anyone else, I want to be convinced that its not just a matter of LOSD.  Because otherwise its hypocrisy and a sorry excuse for a crutch to claim ADD when in fact you just need to pull up your boot straps and pay attention.  ADD is like love: the word is misapplied so often you have a hard time distinguishing the real from the not-so-real (yeah, I wanted to say fake but I stopped just short of it).

Yep .... its time to stop faking ADD, put away LOSD, and start being producteev.

Ok, I meant 'productive' but it didn't rhyme nearly as well. :)