Many of us have trouble listing our signature strengths, but can easily itemize the flaws. Along the way we force ourselves to fit the mold and become an artificial version of ourselves. Even worse, the self-criticism accompanying these imperfections causes a free-floating uneasiness. Consequently, we overdo – deplete ourselves with busyness to atone or even take medication.
It’s time to rethink our so-called flaws. They might actually be our hidden strengths. This is why I was so pleased to discover new research concerning one of the overmedicated maladies of our time, ADHD. It turns out that ADHD has an upside. Could we be engaging in self-sabotage by trying to suppress and silence the good side of ADHD?
In my book, Addicted to Stress, I advise my readers to adopt the attributes of a "healthy narcissist"– to embrace who they are in order to become who they aspire to be. In this chapter I cite an example of someone with adult ADD who berates herself for being flighty. Here is how she is advised to reinterpret her perceived weakness: “I am a scanner. I’m good at so many things and am looking for what I really enjoy.”
A new study in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences validates this concept. The latest research finds that adults with ADHD enjoy more creative achievement than those who don’t have the disorder. “For the same reason that ADHD might create problems, like distraction, it can also allow an openness to new ideas,” says Holly White, assistant professor of cognitive psychology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida and co-author of the paper. “Not being completely focused on a task lets the mind make associations that might not have happened otherwise.”
The world needs sequential, clear and focused thinkers. However, the skill of brainstorming, generating new ideas for potential inventions, is just as vital.
Could this trait turn out to be your signature strength?
* Laziness – you ease on down the road while others rush through life. You are likely to invent easier and more efficient methods.
* Doodling – you are releasing your inner creativity. This transfers laterally to your more serious tasks.
* Procrastination – you percolate ideas instead of knee-jerk responses.
* Shyness – you are a good listener and more likely to think before you speak.
* Messiness – you are a creative, multi-faceted person with an associative mind. You find what you need amidst the chaos.
* Jealousy – you are ambitious and accomplish great things by emulating others.
Perhaps I'm taking the point of your article to far, but it reminded me of a moving poem, Power, by Adrienne Rich. The last line is the killer, but please read it from the beginning.
Enjoy.
Power
Living in the earth-deposits of our history
Today a backhoe divulged out of a crumbling flank of earth
one bottle amber perfect a hundred-year-old
cure for fever or melancholy a tonic
for living on this earth in the winters of this climate.
Today I was reading about Marie Curie:
she must have known she suffered from radiation sickness
her body bombarded for years by the element
she had purified
It seems she denied to the end
the source of the cataracts on her eyes
the cracked and suppurating skin of her finger-ends
till she could no longer hold a test-tube or a pencil
She died a famous woman denying
her wounds
denying
her wounds came from the same source as her power.
John, this takes the point to the max. It reminds me of the tension of opposites in John Donne's poetry – scientific imagery in the flights of fancy. I truly enjoyed its powerful message.