Don’t Medicate Away the Spark

After taking one of those adult ADHD tests, No suprise. I have many of the traits associated with ADHD. I bounce from one project to another. I talk too much. I interrupt people because my mind is already three thoughts ahead. I’m productive but messy. If I’m not busy, my mind starts focusing on my aches and pains.

And you know what?

I wouldn’t change a thing.

I grew up in a time when kids like me were simply called “busy,” “energetic,” or sometimes “a handful.” Today, I often wonder how many children with minds like mine are being told there is something wrong with them.

This is just my opinion, but I believe we are too quick to label and medicate children who simply think and behave differently.

That restless curiosity? It can become entrepreneurship.

That inability to sit still? It can become incredible energy and drive.

That tendency to think about ten things at once? It can become creativity and problem-solving.

In my own life, those traits helped me build a successful career, run businesses, reinvent myself several times, and take on projects that many people would never attempt. I left corporate America at 48 and built a second career doing something I loved. I raised a wonderful family and have lived a life full of adventure and opportunity.

Would I have done all of that if my personality had been slowed down and smoothed out when I was a child?

I honestly don’t know.

I do know this: every child doesn’t fit neatly into the same box. Some children are dreamers. Some are builders. Some are inventors. Some have minds that race a mile a minute.

Maybe instead of asking, “How do we make this child sit still?” we should ask, “How can we help this child use these gifts?”

The world needs accountants and engineers. But it also needs entrepreneurs, creators, risk-takers, and people who ask a thousand questions.

I was one of those kids.

I still am.

And looking back at my life, I wouldn’t trade that busy, curious, messy mind for anything