News from Getting Clear

Linda Anderson, MA, MCC, SCAC

         March 2011               

Featured Article:   The Tongue of Your Shoe

Tips, Tools and Wisdom:   Tackling A Toleration or Two

Book Recommendation:   ADHD Medication Rules ~ by Dr. Charles Parker  

You Tube - Just For Fun:   Polar Bears Playing With Dogs                  

The Tongue of Your Shoe

Brian White lies on his back, feet crossed, fingers interlaced behind his head, looking like Huck Finn on a warm summer day resting on a grassy spot by the river's edge. Only, it was rest time in the day care room, and four year old Brian was laying on his cot contemplating his shoes or one of them. Thoughtfully, lazily, he said, out loud, "You know what it's like when the tongue of your shoe is out of place… and you fix it?"

My friend, Brian's teacher, shared this bit of four year old wisdom with me, and I sighed in appreciation. Haven't we all experienced living the day with the tongue of our shoe out of place, ignoring it, tolerating it, until finally we decide to lean over and take the time to just fix it?

How many shoe tongues are out of place in your life? Can you think of just one that you might like to fix? It's funny how we will ignore something, something that doesn't require a lot of attention, just some attention, and we will live with the irritation, instead of just fixing it. Yes, some things aren't quite as easy to fix and might take a bit more than a tug of the shoe tongue to straighten out. Still, ask yourself, "What am I tolerating? What could I just fix without too much effort?"


Tips, Tools and Wisdom -  Tackling a Toleration or Two 

Try for one day to pay attention to the little things that are bugging you--the broken doorknob, a shelf that fell down, lack of a trash bag in the car, or the dog needing a bath. Jot them down. At the end of the day, see if there is one thing on that list that you find yourself tripping over and avoiding, find something relatively easy to handle, and ask yourself,

Are there any benefits from not fixing this?
Who would I be without this irritation in my life?
 

That last question may sound a bit strange, but it is a motivator, it gets your attention focused on what is happening to you while ignoring these things. You don't need to over-complicate this process, but until you decide to pay attention to YOU and to the toleration two feet in front of you (pun intended), you might just keep tripping along for way too long.   

 

Book Recommendation

 

An eBook by by Dr. Charles Parker Hawkeye Press, Inc., 2010
www.CorePsych.com

Getting Healthy A Highly Recommended eBook

I love reading and sharing books that help us become more knowledgeable about our own health, more empowered to advocate for ourselves. Dr. Parker's book helps adults and families with ADHD understand how the medications for ADHD should work and how other important factors affect the body and the brain. After reading this book, you will know more than the average doctor prescribing meds for ADHD! This could even help you help your doctor.

 
To find his downloadable e-Book Click Here.
 

Turning Challenge into Accomplishment

http://www.gettingclear.com

Linda@gettingclear.com

 

Master Certified Coach Specializing in Coaching Adults with ADHD
And
Cogmed Working Memory Training Coach

"Cogmed Working Memory Training is an intensive 5-week program for helping children and adults with attention and working memory difficulties. The program has accumulated significant research support, including a number of randomized controlled trials and published studies from independent research groups. ADHD specialists at more than 180 practices in North America - including several members of the CHADD Hall of Fame - are now offering this innovative program in their practice."

David Rabiner, Ph.D
Duke University
http://www.helpforadd.com/archives.htm