I am sure most of you are wondering why am I talking about absent mindedness out of all the possible topics in Down syndrome awareness month. The first reason is I believe that this month should also celebrate other members of the family and second reason is…..second reason is!! Hang on, what was it? “Trust me it was on the tip of my tongue.” “I knew what I was going to say”. Well, forget it. Sounds similar? Does it happen to you too? “No” Great you are gifted. “Yes” Please read on…
Absent mindedness is a common phenomena and there is a reason for it. Everybody seems to think too much, dwell too much, or ponder too much all on topics that rarely need all that attention. Some stress is good for health and it helps create new memories but when it becomes chronic, it becomes life threatening. I mean we can get killed if we don’t know when to pull up the car!
I am sure we all have met that somebody who is always stressed out over his/her job, relationship, spouse, kids and can never feel good enough. Nobody likes to be that guy. But we hardly notice when we start to sound like him. Thinking and over thinking about things that can’t be changed like our spouses’ old habits. I know all positive thinking book writers tell you otherwise but come on we all have been trying for years and can write one of such book ourselves on “how to make peace with the things you can’t change.”
I am sure we all have met that somebody who is always stressed out over his/her job, relationship, spouse, kids and can never feel good enough. Nobody likes to be that guy. But we hardly notice when we start to sound like him. Thinking and over thinking about things that can’t be changed like our spouses’ old habits. I know all positive thinking book writers tell you otherwise but come on we all have been trying for years and can write one of such book ourselves on “how to make peace with the things you can’t change.”
Coming back to absent mindedness, I believe lately this problem/habit/ flaw of mine is getting bigger everyday. I am not talking about the small battles like forgetting the keys, or what was I supposed to get from the refrigerator. I am talking war like situations for example, did I lock the house? Did I pay the bill or what’s the date today? I will keep thinking about the safe place I had kept my insurance papers at, but when needed I can’t find them for my life!! Talking about Life, I sometimes think if there is a thief with a gun on my head asking where the money is. Should I try and explain why I genuinely don’t remember and not just pretending.
I also get a feeling that I am all alone in this. A lot of my friends seem so good and perfect that they can precisely tell where that 3 year old credit card bill can be found? I can’t tell the one I got last month!!
When I told my friend about how I am the perfect example of someone whose thoughts are so taken up by something completely opposite of what I am doing and that I often struggle to keep a hold on the smaller things we all have to remember and focus on in everyday life. She told me that Albert Einstein was absent minded too (that’s her way of making me feel good) but I know, by the time he was my age, he probably made few hundred discoveries. I can only boast of my two kids as my achievements, I am still working on my husband 😉
Everything and I mean everything has its pros and cons. So I wanted to know ( for the sake of women humanity) if there are some feel good factors for being absentminded and guess what, I could get three..
1. The most important or the best reason for us to be happy about our absent mindedness is, that it saves us from remembering all crushingly dull and boring moments from our life. It sets us free to think in abstract terms. Imagine if you could still remember how exactly you looked at your 16th birthday party or when you got your hair perm for the first time. Scary… Isn’t it? So be thankful for your gift.
2. Its magic: My friends and family feel great about this gift. The reason is I never remember trivial details of unimportant arguments, unnecessary conflicts or arguments. The result…Everybody is haapy and so am I. happy and so am I.
3. This gift can let you live the life that you want to live. You can be in your make belief world and be the princess or the rock star you want to be and nobody can take that away from you. You may not remember where have you kept your child’s yellow car, your husband’s boring files (I need to get to those too) or when do you have to pay that already overdue electricity bill but you do remember that beautiful house, those enthralling walks, those stimulating conversations with friends, that wine session, that hot bath, all that you are going to have sometimes soon…I do, in my bubble…
Thanks for reading
Statutory warning: This is a little exaggerated sarcastic post on my forgetfulness. Hope it will bring a smile to those who identify and a relief to those who don’t 🙂
