Gratitude – ADHD surprise

Camp ADHD was held a week and a half ago. If you missed it, don’t worry, they’re working on preserving the sessions through video and the written word. But I am sorry to have to tell you that nothing will replace the feeling of actually being there.

I was asked to be one of several speakers for the day. I was happy to accept and put together a presentation that was meaningful. As the camp was scheduled to begin a bit earlier in the day than I typically wake up, I intended to join in to just listen to the presentation before mine, give mine, and then return to my typical day.

As luck would have it, I woke up exceptionally early that day. So I was there when the camp opened. I was there when we watched Dani Donovan’s personalized message for us. I was there when Tanya gave her wonderful presentation on telling others about having ADHD. Then I gave my presentation.

And I stayed on the rest of the day.

Camp ADHD drew together around 150 people from around the world. People with diverse backgrounds and stories, and many different reasons why we came. But we all received the same thing when we got there.

Connection.

I’ve been part of the ADHD community for just over six months now, ever since I first joined Twitter and was immediately welcomed in and shown the way that we care for and lift up one another. But Camp ADHD brought this to a level I hadn’t experienced before.

Perhaps it was the stark contrast with Covid. Literally everything in my life has been shut down to some degree or other since March. This canceled nearly all social events and severed nearly all of my social connections. But that Camp ADHD Saturday I was connected with people who understood me. People who struggle with my struggles and who have the same fears and share many of the same problems. Being at Camp ADHD was being with Family.

So this is my thank you. Thank you to the organizers of Camp ADHD – Halo, Abby, Ana, and Gwilym. Thank you for bringing us all together–for having a vision of what this could be and making it happen. You orchestrated the single most important event that I’ve experienced since learning of my diagnosis, and in doing so you have given me an experience I could have received nowhere else. It’s a feeling I want to hang onto and an event I want to have happen again and again.

The song is admittedly cheesy…but also accurate.

I reached out to the other speakers from that day and have messages from a couple of them as well, which I’ll post below:

From Tanya | Twitter | Instagram
I was so excited to talk at Camp ADHD; such a fantastic idea, and wonderful to watch it all come together. I felt thoroughly supported and appreciated at every step, from chucking ideas around by email to on-the-day getting ready and setting up. The organisers were all so helpful and friendly, and provided such a welcoming platform to share thoughts and ideas – it felt really holistic and the energy was so positive. I can’t wait for the next one!!

From George | Twitter
In my humble opinion, this was one of the most well organised, fun, and life-enriching events I’ve ever attended (both on- and off-line). The attendees numbered over 100, and included YouTubers, ADHD advocates, people from all four-corners of the globe (as one of the organisers put it), and I am both humbled and honoured to have been given the opportunity to speak at the event. I’ve connected with so many more people during and since the event, both through social media and by virtue of having simply listened to their story during the event. I have no doubts in my mind that the next CampADHD will be just as good, if not better.

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2020 has been quite the year for pretty much everyone. Our lives have been dramatically changed and we are bombarded with negative ideas and images on social media and in the news almost constantly. And this year, perhaps more than others, it’s been with good reason. There is plenty of negative to go around. But when we’re focused on negative, we tend to see more negative. We will recognize it all around us and it will color everything that we do.

Before we move on, I think it’s important to note that we are facing an ongoing worldwide pandemic as well as other major unresolved societal problems. This post is not meant to diminish or downplay the impact that these are continuing to have on our lives. The purpose of the post is to help break negative thought patterns and mindsets and replace them with positive ones. Our creative minds work best from a position of positive or neutral rather than negative. So if we’re going to come up with solutions for problems we face, whether local or global, shifting our mindset is important.

Seeing new patterns

Have you ever noticed when you buy a new car that all of a sudden you start to see that make and model seemingly everywhere? I’ve got news for you though, that many people didn’t just start driving the 2005 Toyota Camry when you did. Those cars were always there. But when you researched for and purchased one, you became very familiar with its shape and design. And now that it’s yours, you’ve trained your brain to recognize it so that, among other things, you can find it in the parking lot after you’re done shopping!

In the same way we teach our brain to recognize a new car, we can train it to recognize positive things. And this can be done very simply and with very low effort, but it needs to be done every day in order to work.

It’s all about gratitude

What happens when you stop to think about something you’re grateful for? You’re recalling a positive memory right? Something that happened that made you feel good. So not only did it make you feel good when it happened, it made you feel the same way again when you remembered it.

Retraining our brains to focus on positivity is as simple as this. Take 30-90 seconds per day and name 3 things that you’re grateful for from that day. That’s it.

This can take many forms, so it’s up to you what you find most suited to your needs and what you find sustainable. One of the best ways I’ve found to sustain it is by finding others who want to do it too. Here are a few ideas that range from independent to large group:

Pick a time to quietly reflect alone
Keep a gratitude journal
Text it to a friend
Share around the dinner table with your family
Set up a group chat or post to a group
Post it to social media

At first it may seem tough to come up with even just three. But if you make a habit of this by doing it daily, soon your brain will be trained to find positives everywhere, and you will have a hard time choosing just three. Give it a try and see the difference it can make in your life, especially in troubled times like these.

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I first found the idea for this post from Shawn Achor’s wonderful book, The Happiness Advantage, which I will review in a future post. If you’re interested in the book already, you can buy it here. I don’t make any money from that and I’m not affiliated with it in any way. It’s just a great book full of ideas like this one!

~~~

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Tag: Gratitude

I’m grateful for Camp ADHD

How to retrain your brain to focus on positivity

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