Wish Thinking Was Like Changing Channels

Sometimes I wish my mind operated more like a television...well, in at least one important way, that is. It's all in the way that one channel switches to another, something that I have always taken for granted since my literally infantile days of TV watching in the late 1950's.

When I am engaging in a bout of channel surfing and, say, I change from South Park on one channel to an old James Bond movie on another, I'm not still seeing Stan standing there next to Sean Connery. Goldfinger isn't getting his heavy, Oddjob, to throw his razor-edged hat at poor, unlucky Kenny. And conniving Cartman isn't on the golf course switching golfballs to play a trick on Goldfinger. The change from channel to channel is abrupt and complete, with the old show completely obliterated on my screen in favor of its replacement. And that's how I wish my mind worked as well...

...with the one caveat that I am still consciously aware of the real world around me and able to react to urgent situations, I wish that I had more control over my train of thought. And maybe other people already do: NO, I'm sure they do, because...

A few months ago, my wife got hold of a questionnaire that supposedly enabled the respondent to determine whether or not he or she had adult attention deficit disorder. The scoring was such that the highest (most extremely attention deficit) number was "20". If you received "15" or higher, the advice was to get to your doctor as quickly as possible (why, to get drugged?). I answered the questions with unswerving honesty and got a "17". Wow, that was a bummer...

I have a great memory, but that isn't exactly the same thing as being able to keep my thoughts on track without wondering off in other directions. I am too easily distracted, and even when I purpose to think about a particular subject, it is often difficult to put other thoughts out of my mind. And I am completely averse to drug treatment, even if it is prescribed as the result of an official diagnosis by a respected and licensed physician. Who knows, maybe that's a mistake on my part. So, I suppose at least for a while, my thoughts are going to continue to be a bit like South Park superimposed on Goldfinger!