Is fly fishing a metaphor for life with ADD ADHD?
I don’t think fly fishing is as hard as they say, but with ADD ADHD it sure can be harder.
When you are fly fishing, there are many things that could possibly happen. You could catch fish. Your could lose your fly in a tree, or weeds, or on rocks. Your line could get tangled up on itself, on your rod, on you. You could hook a person. You could hook yourself. In the hand, or the ear, or the face, or just your clothes or equipment. You could break your rod. And you could fall in.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Ain’t life just like that?
Strategies:
1. When I’m fishing I try to pay attention to everything I’m doing, all the time, not be off thinking about something else. Awareness, being present, being in the moment.
2. Do it right. Every time. Not just kinda, not OK, but right.
3. Don’t get fancy. That’s the other time, besides inattentive, that I tend to mess up.
4. Accept that untangling line and losing a fly now and then is just part of the process. Revel in the time I actually catch some fish. (Saturday, I caught 7, by the way, and five of them were BIG).
5. Remember that with patience you can usually untangle a tangled line. Patience is not one of my strong points. Sometimes you just have to cut the line and start over.
6. I try to be careful, but that’s not necessarily a good strategy for ADD ADHD. Maybe it’s too general.
7. I talk to myself, talking my way through what I’m doing and through these strategies- “Ok, now do this right.
Application to real life (or, why am I telling you this?):
Can you think of any other situations in life where these strategies might apply? Would driving a car be an example? Any others?
Next post:
I have just read two posts that are so good I might just copy them. Save me some time and trouble and I could do some more fishing. Or would that not be following the strategies? But I don’t think we need to be that compulsive all the time or in every situation.
One is Homey’s on motivation and the other is James Clear on The Rebound Effect. Really good! And my wife just showed me another one- David Brooks on gratitude. None of these are specifically about ADD ADHD but they all apply. I will try to get them to you.
doug
Twitter stuff: @addstrategies @dougmkp #add #adhd #life
This is kind of like fly fishing with ADD ADHD.
ADDadultstrategies 
In nearly everything I do, I talk to myself. It helps me focus.
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homey – i do it a lot. Some people seem to think it’s a problem if we do it out loud , but I do a lot worse stuff than that – especially if I don’t talk to myself.
Thank you for commenting.
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So that’s where you were, Doug, FISHING huh? Welcome back!
I don’t fish, but took up golf three years ago after a good friend passed away and his widow gave me his clubs. Golf is not easy for most people, and even more difficult if you have ADD. For example, I’m constantly forgetting how many strokes I had! I occasionally forget one of my clubs when I grab my putter and another club upon getting out of the cart. And I tend to forget to focus on where I hit my ball to, when I have to wait for other golfers to hit after me. Golf is fun, but frustrating. It helps to have understanding friends as golf partners! Jeff
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jeff – sounds exactly like golf with add! not my game, partly because it requires some coordination, but glad you are enjoying it and have good friends
thanks for commenting
doug
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