afraid of losing your gift? | ADHD Information

I have been trying the exercises from the crawling post in the alternative post

One thing I worried about was this -

If these exercises work - and they appear to be doing just that! yeah! - will I lose my gift that all ADHD and ADD people have? What I mean is the ability to hyperfocus or the artistic talent, or the music ability, or whatever our brains did to compensate for our inabilities when we are affected with ADD and ADHD.

It almost makes me wonder if I should complete the exercises or not, because I have been helped by them so far and the results are staying. I remember to do so many things that I otherwise would usually forget.

I cleaned by kitchen yesterday, made dinner, corrected school papers, etc. I remember and find time to do all these things now. Before the exercises and when not on meds, I just would wander around the house all day. Yesterday I actually cleaned the blinds in my kitchen!

I'M AFRAID I'M TURNING INTO MY SISTER OR MY MOM (who are not ADD)

It is kinda weird. I don't want to lose my abilities that make me - me.

I was wondering what your opinion was - any one?

I think, personally, that the talent I have developed to draw and paint will never leave me. I think I've developed those kinds of talents and they won't ever go away. But I feel the ability to hyperfocus is leaving me. I wonder if it will be a good thing in the long run, or if I will miss it. It seems kind of a trade to me.

What do you think?

BTW, you could call me an Unfinished Symphony

I still got a long way to go!!

Sherry

oops that wasn't directed toward you sherry!

i hadn't seen your post when i posted! it has NO REFERENCE or any intended slighting connection or anything.... despite it being on the same topic of music. honestly!

cj

chjones,

I havent lost my soul.. I get lost in the music just like i always have. I can write music just like I always have... my soul is fine, It 's this blasted brain I cant seem to get on track

Sherry

we must be posting at the same time

and about the drawing --- yes, i guess the TECHNICAL ability will never leave you. but that's not art. that's craft.

ART is about expressing the soul. it is a language of the soul and you can be the finest technical drawer, you can imitate with the perfection of a computer but for what ---- if you are not expressing anything.

do i want a computer print of an exact version of my face in oils or do i want a painting???

i know what i would choose.

hmmm.. I was thinking about this and the only thing I can relate to it is music.

I studied music for a while and was told that I had a wonderful voice. my vocal range is kind've unusual in that I can go very low into the male tenor range but still really high in the soprano range.

When i was taking singin lessons we focused on improving my upper range. The lesson teacher told me that just because I am increasing my range in the upper notes, that it doesn't mean that I would lose my ability to produce the rich lower notes.

I think that might be like the gifts of ADD: just because you learn to increase the "thinking range" of you mind ( ie staying on task, focusing, remembering stuff) it doesnt mean that you lose the ability to do the creative range of your mind..

Your mind is a masterpeice, each improvement or ,note, if you will, weaves together to make the symphony more beautiful . The high notes our thinking processes, the low notes - our creativity and richness -- they blend together wonderfully when we get it all together... what wonders we can accomplish with an ADD mind that is under control!! I can hear the music now

Sherry

there are people who are 'technically' brilliant on the piano and people who are a lot worse technically but who play with passion, with understanding, with expression.

and those 'technically' brilliant ones. can't write anything of importance musically. they can't. they can just about translate SOMEONE ELSE'S work but they can't make anything. they are stupid in the head like that.

no keep your soul. keep that free-flowing access to your soul no matter how troublesome it is in day to day life.

that's what i reckon.
Well, you realize that GREAT minds think alike!! I waited a bit too!! LOLspooky????

absolutely terrified by the idea, myself! anni

i really am. for me i am not so worried about a particular 'gifted talent' as that access i have to a phenomenal spiritual feeling of 'the love of god'

is kinda the only way i can describe it. i can't lose that. it's not worth anything to lose that. i would rather be ADDled 100 times over.

it's the whole reason i won't take the ritalin/adderall and i bought your book too but on a lot of levels i have the same reservations... but it occured to me that this is a natural thing so it might work and allow me to keep both???? i hope so.

i wouldn't trade tho. no way. i wouldn't trade to be an efficient drone no matter how successful or efficient or productive. i just wouldn't -

it may be insanity on my part but if that spiritual feeling is insanity then it is an insanity that i want to keep.

i am LOST too. i do not know the way to go either. it's such a quandry - but then at least i am old enough that i get to choose. and am not coerced by school rules or similar pressures....

i think it is a mistake to medicate so many children - i think it will cause an imbalance in society. i think the world needs ADDers or it will turn fascist at the drop of a hat.

it kinda reminds me of that Chinese emperor who came up with the great plan to kill all the birds because they ate the seed and caused less food to be produced --- only to have a plague of insects destroy ten times more of all the crops because there were no birds to eat them.

i think we should change society to tolerate ADDers rather than medicate ADDers to conform to society. i just think we are going around this all the wrong way.

but i would say that - because i am an ADDer.

but what is life without ART without MUSIC without SPIRITUALITY. what is it? it seems such a pointless, horrible, dry, dusty, PRACTICAL thing.

hateful.

well i deliberately waited this time!

so hopefully we will be less in sync -- and by virtue of that more in harmony?????

You will never lose the real you...you will become more fine tuned.....my grandson once he started his medication, was able to play his instrument (harmonica) so much better and was able to understand Grandpa's instructions.....the other day he bought a "D" harmonica, and a fellow in the music store started to jam some blues on his guitar, and my grandson joined right in and played his heart out.this would have never been possible, premeds..........so go for it!

well thanks meema. i can't get myself to believe that though (that's my problem!)....

i'm too stubborn!

but somewhere deep down i feel ADD is a gift from the gods - that's what i think. if you can only get to access it right. and i don't think squashing it, is accessing it.

and i am so pleased for your grandson the meds are obviously working well for him.

So few who have the gift of 'soul-expression' in the arts and those that do normally pay an extreme price for it in terms of everyday life. but the pay off is in the art itself - that is worth everything. worth more than a million palaces.

i think ADDers have that. but i could be wrong. we are 'bright' normally and we are 'gifted' so if you squash down that addled part then yes, we will tend to excel and succeed amongst the normal population even on a material as well as creative level.

you see, it seems to me that the bit it fine tunes is the intellect and the bit it squishes is the intuition and someone on here has a great quote from Einsten as their signature which says something along the lines of:

intellect is a great gift of nature but it is there to serve intuition a sacred gift from God --- but we mistakenly value the servant over the master

(or something, i forget how it goes exactly).

i don't want to give up my ADD. i want to be whole WITH it. i don't want to squash it away, to suppress it - no, i want it to take me where the two can work in harmony. if i could learn how to do THAT!?!

then i would do that in a shot. no questions asked. no hesitation.

[QUOTE=GlenW]

actually anni - they did a test on the whole "lose one get more of another" in the senses. What they found is that the reason a blind person has more acute hearing is not that they lost eyesight - but that they CHOSE to improve hearing. Those in the tests that didn't make an effort had same hearing as the rest of us. It took work - just like with us and ADHD. With or without it we'll have to work at making life better all over.

You are spiritual because your brain was pre-wired that way - same as mine is the opposite with no spiritual connection (believe me I tried a lot in my youth). Your creativity was pre-born - it can no more be removed by removing ADHD than your freckles if they cure MS.

I've thought long on this. The reason I think we're often creative and insightful isn't because of or in spite of ADHD. I think it's a molding of the brain in the same areas as the creativity and our view of the world - they grow in tandem not with each other. I am MORE creative without my ADHD as now I can think and reason way more clearly. The creativity was there - hidden in the brush. I had no idea - my teachers in most didnt' either. But it lay there dormant until I had a chance to get to it. Now I can talk to you all in ways I'd never have imagined. There was a time where if I'd tried this you'd all have said "bollocks" and never answered me. But now - I have something to say.

Don't worry people - creativity won't wane it'll soar - that is if it's already there otherwise you'll have to work at it like the rest of the "normals" LOL.

[/QUOTE]

I like the idea that we choose to make one sense rise above another. I know that I love art, so I draw and paint a lot. I also once wondered if true talent wasn't just a love for something, a love so deep and sure that you spend more time in that area and therefore become more talented in that area.

I don't know about the pre-wired thing for spirituality. I think some people crave it or love it and so they work at the spiritual side of things more than others. Maybe that is why - the same with the talent theory.

I believe that God will answer anyone's prayer though, no matter how pre-wired we all are. I believe He is our Father. Any loving parent will do it and I believe He is just the same.

I have found that when I am working in any situation, and allowed to 'have a moment to think', I awaken all the senses at the same time. I can decide which senses to increase, and it supprises some people, sometimes it scares them. They really don't understand that it's filtering that a normal person subconciously does without thought, that adhd'ers have to conciously think about all the time. We get good at it, too good sometimes, and then they label us as 'fragile, strange, lazy, intractable, flawed, and just not playing with a full deck of cards'.

The fact is , we're dealing with a lot more cards at our disposal and memory sometimes can't keep up with what we've been dealt. The reality of personality exists within ones own mind, not a drug. The medications sometimes allows thoughts to be remembered or more ordered, they don't neccisarily cause them to be muted.

If I believed a medication was causing my thoughts to be muted, personally having a fairly firm grip on reality, I would stop any prescription and possibly find another Dr. If there were no other alternatives. Personally, I didn't know that other people couldn't 'really focus' on a problem! When I started to realize my senses were 'better' than other persons,,, I wondered why. My best guess is the wiring, there's methylated, ours not! It's in the genes and how they express themselves in our makeup. Its not the amphetimine,, it's the methylation of receptor sites! Amphetimines carry the methylation of over expressive genes!

Don't we have this one over therapy and meds too? It's the same thing I believe.

The bad parts of ADHD we don't like are the uncoordinated - the self-defeating parts. Those are the ones that we lose when we get better!

I've seen similar arguments about physicist Stephen Hawkins - would he be a genius if he didn't have ALS? Of course he would have been! But some see that since it's so amazing what he CAN do with the burden that the burden therefore caused the gift. Cyclical thinking - much like the anti-med groups use. We fall for it too.

We have gifts IN SPITE of our ADHD - not because of it!! The ADHD we speak of is the bad parts - and they aren't making therapies and meds to counter the insightful thinking (it's born with us - we can't change that after age 6!), fast computations (now we get them right - a big plus!) and being able to see things from a different angle (again intelligent thought is fixed after 6 so no such bad luck).

Whatever therapy you chose you are still YOU - only more together! I with my meds and therapy are so much better, faster, more loving and tender than before. The meds didn't do that - they just opened new doors for me to go through all by myself!

Don't worry people - creativity won't wane it'll soar - that is if it's already there otherwise you'll have to work at it like the rest of the "normals" LOL.

I don't know. I think that when you are somehow restricted, disabled somehow, that your brain compensates.

Like if you didn't have the sense of sight, your ears work better. If you don't have th sense of hearing, that your eyesight improves.

I think that if your brain isn't connecting things - that's how I feel about my ADD - that my brain compensates somehow. I am more creative, more intelligent perhaps in other ways.

I am more impulsive and that leads to imspirational things. The muse as it were.

I believe in spirituality on a totally different level. I believe everyone can feel the Spirit of God. I believe that is a gift to all.

But aside from that. I worry that I will lose that impulsiveness that gives me spark, gives me spontenaity (spelling?) I remember telling my brother that I could "feel the air," when I was young. He was so frustrated with me. But I felt sad for him. I wondered why he couldn't share that feeling with me. I really could feel the air. He just wasn't trying.

I don't want to be so efficient that all I have time for is cleaning and organizing. But I do want to be able to organize to the point that I don't lose my inspirations all over my house in my piles of papers everywhere. I look through my piles of papers and find things I worked on years ago, but never did anything with.

So what good is inspiration if it sits under a pile of papers in my closet?

There has to be a happy medium. A middle of the road that I can be happy with.

I don't want to lose the edge of the muse, but I don't want to not have it together enough to do something with the beauty of it all.

I have a million books in my head that I have never written because I don't have the patience for them. Maybe now I will.

It is a dilemma for sure.

Something my Doc told me today was interesting.. He commented that all the ADD medications really do for me ( Im inattentive ADD) is make me more 'aware" if that's the case, then I would think that my thoughts and senses would be more fine tuned and thus enabling my creativity and spirituality shine!

I have certainly seen no difference in the way I feel ( except that first month getting used to the stuff is wierd) , except I notice more things. the funny part is when I question my family -- they cant tell a difference at all!

Strange.. I certainly can see the differences in myself. But I guess since I am still "me" my family didn't notice anything. My gifts are all still there, evidently

Sherry

Hmmm, if something can be lost I'm the person to do it!! I'm on Ritalin LA but I seem to be the same person more or less. Just on time and I finish what I start. Of course this is only the second week I've been on the drug. Give me a couple more days...I'll loose the bottle of pills!I feel the same. I am scared that I will stop thinking in my weird way and become normal like everyone else! I love the way I see the world so differently. [QUOTE=GlenW]

you know btodd - I wondered as an atheist (since age 6) if the meds I take would either give me that etheral sense of "spirit" - or drive me further into disbelief.

[/QUOTE]

I would think that they would increase your intelligence enought to know that there wasn't a big "perfect explosion" that left people and plants and animals and a world perfect in distance from the sun etc.

Just playing with ya buddy. I won't use my mojo on you.

My experience is that the channels of inspiration always follow that order. You are safe following your leaders.

I liked reading the spiritual message. I think most spirituality is good and it's nice to think that one can pray and then get answers from God. The message was a positive one.

However, I think it's a little dangerous to tell people that they should listen to their leaders.

How many of us were ostracized, called stupid and misunderstood by our teachers, parents or leaders. Teachers and leaders are just people - some are more capable and some less - and they have their own interests.

you know btodd - I wondered as an atheist (since age 6) if the meds I take would either give me that etheral sense of "spirit" - or drive me further into disbelief. I was .. well content I guess as there was no change whatsoever. I chose this as one of the first real choices of a true ego at that young age and never truly questioned the validity of the decision. I still feel that spirituality is for those that need it - and felt that since I didn't have it I probably didn't need it!

But glad for those that find peace and that feeling of completeness in it. Just don't try and work your mojo on me and we'll all get along swimmingly!

Personally, I believe that we are made up of body and Spirit..

If the spirit is healthy that will in turn help the body stay healthy.. In that sense, people who are depressed may have ( I'm talking temporary depression not the chemically imbalanced clinical type.) not only a sadness in their spirit, that the depression can actually translate into other illnesses in the body.. ie we may be more prone to catching whatever virus or bacteria may be floating around.

the converse is true to me also.. if we take care of our bodies, then our spirit is able to be healthy too. Example, if I don't eat, I am more prone to being depressed or anxious.

I know that there is probably a more scientific explanation for all that and some may think I'm talking out of my rear.. but this is the way I view things. We are spiritual and biological beings and if both are nourished then we are healthy overall.

For some, spirituallity is found in worship ( like me!) for others, I think that they find a way to have a form of spirituality through music, quiet walks, poetry , or even excercise.

I do know that since beginning medication, that, like Glen, my basic belief system has not changed.. I am no more intuned spiritually than I was before, but no less either..

As far as gifts, spirituality etc... I think that the meds, at least for me, helps the biological side so that I am free to work on and nourish the spiritual side of who I am.

anyways.. my 2 cents..

sherry

[QUOTE=chjones]absolutely terrified by the idea, myself! anni

i really am. for me i am not so worried about a particular 'gifted talent' as that access i have to a phenomenal spiritual feeling of 'the love of god'

[/QUOTE]

You know I have been thinking the same thing lately. I have read a talk by a memeber of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles. It is really good you can find more articles in the gospel library archive. http://lds.org/search/0,5523,165,00.html

Boyd K. Packer, �Personal Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise,� Ensign, Nov. 1994, 59
When the funeral cortege traveled with the body of our beloved President Ezra Taft Benson to his final resting place at home in Idaho, every overpass was lined with people. There were along the way Scouts in uniform with flags. There were the elderly in camp chairs, even wheelchairs. Farmers left their equipment to stand in the field, and families dressed in their Sunday best paid their respects. Thousands of people expressed love for him, a spontaneous outpouring of love�all of which is now transferred to President Howard W. Hunter. His physical limitations actually enhance his capacity as prophet and seer. God bless him for the course that he has already set and the direction that he will yet give us.

I speak to the youth of the Church who now face �perilous times,� as the Apostle Paul prophesied would come in the last days. 1

In order to prepare you, and protect you, I will tell you, as plainly as I can, what I have learned about personal revelation.

Dual Beings

There are two parts to your nature�your temporal body born of mortal parents, and your immortal spirit within. You are a son or daughter of God.

Physically you can see with eyes and hear with ears and touch and feel and learn. Through your intellect, you learn most of what you know about the world in which we live.

But if you learn by reason only, you will never understand the Spirit and how it works�regardless of how much you learn about other things.

The scriptures teach that �great men are not always wise.� 2 Spiritually you may �know not, and know not that you know not,� and be �ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.� 3

Your spirit learns in a different way than does your intellect.

For �there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding,� 4 and the Spirit of Christ �giveth light to every man that cometh into the world.� 5

I will use the words see, hear, and feel to teach about revelation, but I will use them as they are used in the scriptures.

The gift of the Holy Ghost

Following baptism, in the ordinance of confirmation, you received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

While the Holy Ghost may inspire all mankind, the gift carries the right to have it as a �constant companion.� 6 It is �by the power of the Holy Ghost [that you] may know the truth of all things.� 7

We are told that �angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost.� 8 We are even told that when we speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, we �speak with the tongue [or in the same language] of angels.� 9

Prayer

You have your agency, and inspiration does not�perhaps cannot�flow unless you ask for it, or someone asks for you.

No message in scripture is repeated more often than the invitation, even the command, to pray�to ask.

Prayer is so essential a part of revelation that without it the veil may remain closed to you. Learn to pray. Pray often. Pray in your mind, in your heart. Pray on your knees.

Begin Where You Are

You must begin where you are. Pray, even if you are like the prophet Alma when he was young and wayward, or if you are like Amulek, of the closed mind, who �knew concerning these things, yet � would not know.� 10

Prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil. 11

Study

But that is not all. To one who thought that revelation would flow without effort, the Lord said:

�You have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.

�But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.� 12

This burning in the bosom is not purely a physical sensation. It is more like a warm light shining within your being.

Describing the promptings from the Holy Ghost to one who has not had them is very difficult. Such promptings are personal and strictly private! 13

Still Small Voice

The Holy Ghost speaks with a voice that you feel more than you hear. It is described as a �still small voice.� 14 And while we speak of �listening� to the whisperings of the Spirit, most often one describes a spiritual prompting by saying, �I had a feeling ��

The Prophet Joseph Smith explained: �A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; � those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.� 15

Revelation comes as words we feel more than hear. Nephi told his wayward brothers, who were visited by an angel, �Ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words.� 16

The scriptures are full of such expressions as �The veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened,� 17 or �I will tell you in your mind and in your heart,� 18 or �I did enlighten thy mind,� 19 or �Speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts.� 20 There are hundreds of verses which teach of revelation.

President Marion G. Romney, quoting the prophet Enos, said, �While I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my mind.� 21 Enos then related what the Lord put into his mind.

�This,� President Romney said, �is a very common means of revelation. It comes into one�s mind in words and sentences. With this medium of revelation I am personally well acquainted.� 22

We do not seek for spectacular experiences. President Spencer W. Kimball spoke of the many who �have no ear for spiritual messages � when they come in common dress. � Expecting the spectacular, one may not be fully alerted to the constant flow of revealed communication.� 23

Prompting

This voice of the Spirit speaks gently, prompting you what to do or what to say, or it may caution or warn you.

Ignore or disobey these promptings, and the Spirit will leave you. It is your choice�your agency.

Faith

The flow of revelation depends on your faith. You exercise faith by causing, or by making, your mind accept or believe as truth that which you cannot, by reason alone, prove for certainty. 24

The first exercising of your faith should be your acceptance of Christ and His atonement.

As you test gospel principles by believing without knowing, the Spirit will begin to teach you. Gradually your faith will be replaced with knowledge.

You will be able to discern, or to see, with spiritual eyes.

Be believing and your faith will be constantly replenished, your knowledge of the truth increased, and your testimony of the Redeemer, of the Resurrection, of the Restoration will be as �a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.� 25 You may then receive guidance on practical decisions in everyday life.

Word of Wisdom

Your body is the instrument of your mind. In your emotions, the spirit and the body come closest to being one. What you learn spiritually depends, to a degree, on how you treat your body. That is why the Word of Wisdom 26 is so important.

The habit-forming substances prohibited by that revelation�tea, coffee, liquor, tobacco�interfere with the delicate feelings of spiritual communication, just as other addictive drugs will do.

Do not ignore the Word of Wisdom, for that may cost you the �great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures� 27 promised to those who keep it. And good health is an added blessing.

Music

Make wholesome music of all kinds a part of your life.

Then learn what sacred music has to do with revelation. The Lord said, �My soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.� 28

Secular music may be inspiring in a classical or popular sense, but it will not prepare your mind to be instructed by the Spirit as will sacred music.

The Apostle Paul counseled the Ephesians to �be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.� 29

Reverence

Prelude music, reverently played, is nourishment for the spirit. It invites inspiration. That is a time to, as the poet said, �go to your bosom � and ask your heart what it doth know.� 30 Do not ever disturb prelude music for others, for reverence is essential to revelation. �Be still,� He said, �and know that I am God.� 31

Now a warning! Some music is spiritually very destructive. You young people know what kind that is. The tempo, the sounds, and the lifestyle of those who perform it repel the Spirit. It is far more dangerous than you may suppose, for it can smother your spiritual senses.

Temptation

Now, young people, pay attention! Before I say another word about personal revelation, I must tell you so that you cannot possibly misunderstand: �There are many spirits which are false spirits.� 32 There can be counterfeit revelations, promptings from the devil, temptations! As long as you live, in one way or another the adversary will try to lead you astray.

�For after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.� 33

The Prophet Joseph Smith said that �nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit when they think they have the Spirit of God.� 34

The seventh chapter of Moroni in the Book of Mormon tells you how to test spiritual promptings. Read it carefully�over and over.

By trial, and some error, you will learn to heed these promptings.

If ever you receive a prompting to do something that makes you feel uneasy, something you know in your mind to be wrong and contrary to the principles of righteousness, do not respond to it!

The Church

The Lord reveals His will through dreams and visions, visitations, through angels, through His own voice, and through the voice of His servants. 35 �Whether by mine own voice,� He said, �or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.� 36

The Lord�s house is a house of order. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that �it is contrary to the economy of God for any member of the Church, or any one [else], to receive instruction for those in authority, higher than themselves.� 37

You may receive revelation individually, as a parent for your family, or for those for whom you are responsible as a leader or teacher, having been properly called and set apart.

If one becomes critical and harbors negative feelings, the Spirit will withdraw. Only when they repent will the Spirit return. My experience is that the channels of inspiration always follow that order. You are safe following your leaders.

The Comforter

Now do not suppose that you will be spared from sorrow, disappointment, failure, fear. These come to all. They are essential to our testing.

When sore trials come, you will learn why the Holy Ghost is called the Comforter.

You must face life �led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which [you] should do,� 38 just as Nephi did.

You may not yet have a certain witness that Jesus is the Christ. Exercise your faith and trust in those who do.

I have that certain witness. It came to me in my youth. During those early periods of doubt, I leaned on the testimony of a seminary teacher. Although I did not know, somehow I knew that he knew.

The Lord said:

�If ye love me, keep my commandments.

�And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

�Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

�I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.� 39

I bear witness of the power of the Spirit and thank God that this incomparable gift is given to you, our youth, to guide you as you move forward to a happy life, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

www.mormon.org

I have noticed that my prayers are more powerful and that I can concentrate on Him more when I'm praying and not having a thousand other things running through my head or start thinking of something else. In that way it has helped a lot. [QUOTE=TheDog]

However, I think it's a little dangerous to tell people that they should listen to their leaders.

[/QUOTE]

Yes, I agree. Here he is talking about church leaders or in my religion Priesthood leaders. Those who have been called by God to be in positions of leadership. However I think you should always pray and receive your own witness. Men are prone to make mistakes but God is perfect. I believe leaders in the church have been called for a reason and have good council to lead us spiritually. I think this is more what he is referring to.

Glad you enjoyed it. Have a Merry Christmas!

btodd38709.4672569444[QUOTE=Peita Pan]

Can I ask what the exercises are that your doing??

While Im here have any of you heard of the DORE program or is it only in Australia, NZ and the U.K?

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Peita Pan,

I'm sorry I didn't see your question before now.

The exercises I have been trying are from a book I found at Barnes and Noble one day. It is called Stopping ADHD and is written by two PHD professors of learning disabilities. O'Dell is listed first as one of the authors.

I have been doing the exercises in the book for a little more than a month and have noticed many improvements. It is amazing to me. The book is in libraries in an older edition called Stopping Hyperactivity, by the same author.

It is definitely worth reading. There is a test you can take in the book to see if you are bothered by the reflex that they say causes ADHD or ADD symptoms. It certainly works for me. I am more organized and I remember better than I ever have before. I think of things that are happening in the week ahead of time. I plan things out. I have never done that before. It is definitely worth the time.

pm me if you have more questions or see the crawling posts in the alternative thread and also the parent thread.

Thanks for that, i'll look it up at the library. Its worth a try if the doc wont give me meds at least.

Sparco,

I lost a bottle of pills a year ago. I found them the other day, under my bed!! I was so sure a psycho druggie broke into my house and stole them!!!

I hope your Ritalin keeps working for you!

Kibbles,

I believe that I reacted the same way with my medication. I was a lot more aware of things. I began to spend a lot more time cleaning.

I am afraid that my time will be spent on all the things I could ignore before and it didn't bother me.

Now, will I have time for the things I hyperfocused on before? It is all a trade really for me.

I don't think there is a perfect answer.

Medication opened my eyes and I can't go back now, even if I tried. I see things differently. The exercises have given me such a gift. I can't go back there either. I hope I can be aware enough of the changes in myself that I can control my time and choose to do the things that are the most important.

One nice thing though. I have clean clothes hanging up in my closet for work in the morning instead of having to sift through all the clothes in the hamper and the floor to get something to wear. So medication and my exercises have given me a gift that way.

Yippeee!!

Can I ask what the exercises are that your doing??

While Im here have any of you heard of the DORE program or is it only in Australia, NZ and the U.K?