Too many ADHD adults play small in the world.

We get so caught up in the minutiae of setting timers, taking medication and attaching labels to our computerstomato kitchen clock timer that we can lose sight of what’s truly important in our lives. We overlook the urgency of living life to the hilt in favor of hyper focusing on pleasing a world that oozes with judgment and criticism. We twist ourselves into curly pretzels that obscure our light.

That surprises me, because we are typically Big Picture folks. We have an uncanny ability to see an issue or a stubborn problem from many different angles. That circumspection is why we “think outside the box” to produce innovative, efficient approaches. Those accolades for our creativity are well deserved.

We certainly love to think Broad and Wide. We are easily magnetized toward wind surfing, glass blowing, hockey stats, still photography or bull riding. Of course, our underlying penchant for disorganization or boredom usually dampens our interest. Soon, we abandon the studio or the rink or the waves and turn back to our timers, labels and medication, trying to get this ADHD thing under control.

I understand that those fascinations engage us in the big, exciting world. But, like our focus on ADHD strategies, those diversions pull us away from the truly Big Picture, our Life Purpose, if you will.

I believe that within each and every ADHD adult (and certainly every ADHD child) burns the desire to live up to his or her own full potential – to live BIG. Each of us has precious gifts to share with the world. The gifts are different for all of us, but they are not diminished (nor enhanced) by our ADHD brains. They are part of our innate destiny. They deserve to be released from their restless dens and given full expression.

I invite you to put down the labeler, give up the momentary fascinations and take a look at who you are in the Big Picture of life. There is the place you dance with abandon. There is the place you change the world without worrying about whether you’ll be on time or how deep your piles get.

It’s time for us to set aside the difficult task of dealing with our ADHD foibles and focus on our strengths, our talents, our deepest desires. It’s time to step up into your Big Life and breathe the air of conviction and determination. OK, so it make take our ADHD selves a little longer to put feet under those Big Dreams, but we are worth the wait. The world needs us. The world needs you.

It’s time to play BIG, my friend. Tell me, are you willing?