The Role Flexibility Plays in a Great Life
As this post is written, I am sitting in a lounge at Toronto airport, having volunteered to get bumped to a later flight, allowing my seat to be given to someone that may have higher priority travel needs. Though not immediate, the decision to take the airline's offer was made quicker, and with less hesitation than I would have experienced in the past. This got me to thinking about how I've gotten more flexible the more I've learned about myself, and my ADHD.
Everyone with ADHD lives a life of flexibility, whether they acknowledge it or not. Oftentimes, the flexibility comes in dealing with the every day struggles an ADHD mind can present. Ready to head out to work, but not sure where your keys are? You're now forced to be flexible about your arrival time (or the speed at which you drive). Missed out on the great electronics sale because you were too busy ruminating about whether or not you want/need the item? You've now been flexible enough to let the writers of the sale flyer make the decision for you.
Those are just two of the many ways we might be forced into flexibility every day. Start thinking about traffic, lines at the grocery store, family members, etc., and you begin to realize everyone is forced in to flexibility each and every day. It's no wonder that some ADHDers, myself included, can appear to be inflexible when it comes to what we want for dinner!
While not an official symptom of ADHD, inflexibility could be considered a subset of "black and white thinking". I want it my way, at the time I choose, is a no options thought pattern. We may not love to make decisions when presented with a myriad of possibilities, but having options in the first place is one key to living an abundant life.
How would it feel if you were forced to eat the same meal day in day out? Would you really want someone deciding for you when you're allowed to travel and when you're not? How about the decision to start a family? Would you want to be forced into having children, or not having children? Most people would answer they would hate to have decisions such as these taken away, yet on a daily basis we take away options by insisting on being inflexible when it comes to any number of things.
Sadly, many of the options we take away from ourselves could be life changing, though seemingly unimportant. Had I stuck to my plan of getting home at a certain time, no matter what, I wouldn't have received the credit I need for a trip to New York City next month. How I decide to use the money I save on travel will require options from which to choose. I'd argue, the more options, the better!
My challenge to you, is to think about the ways in which you are routinely inflexible. Is the lack of options worth it? For me, not eating peas is very much worth the lack of vegetable options I might have when eating out; I'm keeping that inflexibility. On the other hand, I can give up the need to always have what I'd like for dinner. My spouse likes that I agree to being flexible in that area.
So, what are you willing to be a bit more flexible about in order to grant yourself more options? Comment below....
Standard disclaimer: Just because you read something on the internet does not mean it's great advice for you. Remember to experiment with what "sounds good" to you, and discard the rest.