Sidetracked

I was glad this morning that it was much cooler than last week. My backyard is begging for some attention. Knowing I have less time and energy for gardening each year, my goal is to redo the yard over time into zero to minimal maintenance areas. At the same time, I want to lose some of the 1917 boxiness, create a place where fruits vegetables, and my granddaughter can thrive.

As I was heading out the door, I realized I needed to finish loading the dishwasher and get it running. In the process of loading dishes from the sink and getting the detergent from under the sink my eyes fell on a problem postponed for nearly a year. My under sink filter's faucet had pink stuff coming out. I haven't used it since, knowing it needed new filters and the time for me to disconnect and clean all the parts. Not difficult, but takes time. Well, I could be a "few" minutes late to gardening...

Two hours, one soaking and one missing filter later, I'm done for now. I will need to get to the store for that second filter in just a bit, but it is working and clean. I also cleaned out the aerator on the faucet. You can see why I really want filtered water.

Such is the life of a school teacher. During the year things are busy and stressful, so each thing that comes up goes into the "I'll do it during vacation" pile. Then vacation comes and I'm torn between much-needed rejuvenation, time with the kids and getting that list whittled down. I do a bit of it all, then the list and its associated "guilt" rolls over to the next holiday. Hiring someone isn't an option right now, but I am learning more great skills. I love the feeling I get when I DO finish a challenge with success.

I think much of my life has been like this. My mom was always frustrated with me and knew I wasn't measuring up. I was trying my best, but I got sidetracked. When cleaning my room I'd return a book to my bookshelf and suddenly notice how sloppy it was. I'd pull out all the books so I could put them in neatly and find Barbie's missing shoe. Off to pull out the Barbie things and return her shoe. On and on like this so that when mom came to check on me my room was so much worse than when I started! Poor Mom. She did her best, but the current trend was to just let the kids figure it out, close the door and they'd clean it when they were fed up with the mess. Sad. No one knew about ADHD back then, especially the "inattentive" and "daydreaming" kind. No one knew about Executive Function Disorder. I hate clutter and disorganization, but don't have the all the skills I need to manage everything.

Unseen disorders wreck havoc on one's self-esteem. Even if others don't, you berate yourself with "It's not 'rocket science.' Why can't I do this?" or "Anyone can do this simple task. What's wrong with me?" and other "lovely" self-talk. After having a diagnosis and beginning to understand my differences, I now thank God (literally) for the way He has wired me. There are things I struggle with, true, but people with dyslexia, ADHD, Executive Function Disorder, and other differences also come with a bag of blessings. We are creative, intelligent, caring, loyal, and generally energetic people. We don't give up easily. We are the artists, inventors, comedians, researchers, speakers, teachers and scientists who don't limit themselves by words such as "impossible" or "that's the way it's always been done."

On life's journey, we are like little kids running off to the side of the trail finding rocks or snakes or bugs and calling, "Look at this! Oh! See that? Wow. This is cool!" And doesn't the Father just love little kids?

Celebrated the sidetracked people in your life today.

Teacher Kay