Spiritual ADHD.....

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Anyone else suffer from it? God always manages to keep my attention on Catholicism, but I drift from book to catechism to internet forum back to book, never staying focused on or finishing one thing:(

That and I can’t go to Confession. Gotta talk to my priest about that. I’m not official yet, but I need to make Confession. I’ve been trinitarian baptized so I don’t think there would be a hang-up there. Keeping mortal sins inside just makes me angry and despondent and helpless. Gotta make Confession…
 
Sometimes the internet forum is a tricky business for me.

I find it very tiresome, yet sometimes fulfilling.

Emails are also sometimes tiresome. I want to be free from it all like a nun. 🙂
 
I think the first thing that would help you would be to talk with your priest or RCIA director about becoming Catholic. RCIA itself provides support and will help you keep focused. In addition, it is the way to prepare for the various sacraments you want to receive, including Reconciliation. And you’ll have a sponsor or godparent who will also help support you.
 
I hae it!! I can’t keep my attention on the mysteries of the Rosary to save my life!!! The best I get are 1-5 second images of the life of Christ. Sometimes I will finish the decade and realize I haven’t focussed much at all!

For me I think it’s just a matter of not praying enough.
 
josephback said:
Anyone else suffer from it? God always manages to keep my attention on Catholicism, but I drift from book to catechism to internet forum back to book, never staying focused on or finishing one thing:(

That and I can’t go to Confession. Gotta talk to my priest about that. I’m not official yet, but I need to make Confession. I’ve been trinitarian baptized so I don’t think there would be a hang-up there. Keeping mortal sins inside just makes me angry and despondent and helpless. Gotta make Confession…
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I know exactly what you mean! About the “Spiritual ADHD” part that is; your statement about confession is too vague for me to follow. I have the same tendency, to sort of “go where the spirit (not necessarily the Spirit) moves me” and ultimately waste time doing too much. I’ve all but stopped following the news in an attempt to combat this problem.

My own self-diagnosis is this. I recognize the goodness of just about any Catholicism-related activity. This makes engaging in any such activity appear good. This seems to give me licence to just follow my natural inclinations at the moment, whatever they may be. Since my natural inclinations are of course fleeting, changing things, this results in switching around from interest to interest, from activity to activity, without giving anything the attention that would really make it edifying. It also means that these activities become too much of an exercise in self-fulfillmen (which, paradoxically, leads to a lack of fulfillment); there is no element of sacrifice or fortitude in them.

My advice to myself (and perhaps to you): Simplify. Think about what you hope to accomplish or gain from an activity before you do it. Set up routines like a daily rosary and stick to them whether you feel like it or not. Stay aware of the here and now. Engage in manual labor (huge for my own spiritual and emotional health!).
 
Ooooh, yeah. 😃 Actually I have ADHD and founded the social group for that on CAF. Right now I’m struggling with how to return to - and this time stay focused on - Bible and Catechism study. I think what might work for some of us is to figure out what “unit” of concentration is best for each of us.

For example - if we can’t stay focused on a whole Rosary, can we manage a decade for starters? Or, in my case, if I try to read just a chapter of the Bible a day, I actually don’t have the continuity the next day, I’m realizing. So for me I think I’d like to read it more the way I read novels - like read from Adam to Noah one day, Noah to Abraham the next, and so on.

If you haven’t joined the Catholic Church, you should go through RCIA and then you’ll have your Sacraments in order - Reconciliation, then Eucharist, Confirmation - and learn about the complete Faith in your classes along the way. But it’s certainly okay in the meantime to make an appointment with a priest just to talk about where you are and to discern your path into the Church. Make sense? 🙂
 
But calling it that makes sense. In exact relation with AelredMinor, you really get exhausted if you don’t have something setup for yourself. Such as being strict with yourself if that helps. Haha sometimes it feels like i can’t sleep eat anything until i complete that thought or whatever. Food is a big one i made for myself. If i havent done that spiritual doing then i don’t eat and that does suck after time until its right again. There is a multitude of things you can do for yourself though.
But just keep going with it and you will be good again.

Actually i stumbld upon this just looking for a thread to post about a similar situation.

So If anyone wants to talk about anythng feel free to post me back cause this site has some pretty good people in it, and seems like i havent talked to one of those for a while. Maybe combatiing alot of things i find hard to battle at the moment. Thanks
 
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