My Life On Hold

By Umesh Jain

I had an ADHD moment. I was at the Mumbai airport taking my computer out for the usual security screening and as I had passed through the metal detector to collect my computer, in front of me was a Pizza Hut. I’ve never seen a Pizza Hut in India. I wandered over to explore the menu and was completely raptured by the smell of mind blowing tomato sauce and oozing drizzling cheese. I floated over lead by my considerable nasal advantage. I bought a small personal slice sinking each bite into blissful and adulterous rapture. Somewhat satisfied (and trying to remove dripping sauce off my shirt), I walked off to the gate. Of course, I left my computer sitting in the collection bin. Stupid. I didn’t realize my folly until I was on the plane. I panicked. They wouldn’t let me get off. Great!? When I arrived in Doha, Qatar, I tracked the laptop to the lost and found department, got it picked up and had it sent back to me. That was three weeks ago and it arrived yesterday. Not accounting for the fact that the entire country of India has ADHD and that time is irrelevant, I probably shouldn’t be surprised that it took a mind numbing three weeks to get here.

While I could make up an excuse (and be forgiven for such a preposterous event), I’m sure there was a rustling of ADHDisms being thrown about against my name. I accept it. That wasn’t the biggest problem I had to face in the three week void. My life went on hold. Obligations for talks, legal work, personal projects, patient files, administrative and business duties all shut down. Nothing could be done. I hadn’t backed up my computer for two months. In hindsight, it was stupid but isn’t that always the way it is. It takes five minutes to back the thing up but if it wasn’t part of my regular habit, it never got done.

How many things in our lives are like that? Your will, the maintenance of the car, changing the filter of the furnace, doing a maintenance walk around the house, or getting your physical exam. It doesn’t seem like a big task until it becomes a crisis. I suppose, if we think about it, there are insurmountable tasks that could be done and the cheer overwhelming number likely cause us to fret and therefore ignore them. But you can’t.

Now, every Friday at 0800 is computer back up time. Just as 0900 on Saturday is grocery time, Just as the day after my birthday and the day before my taxes are due are my dental check up days (confirmed by my Dentist, of course). We have 365 days a year to spread out all our small tasks. But if they aren’t on a schedule, expect that there will be minor or major catastrophes along the way (See video here).

Led by my stomach. Gosh, I think I wrote about being impulsive driven by our primitive drives (Here). I should practice what I preach. I’ve decided I will abstain from pizza for a year as a penance for this misery. Damn you Pizza Hut!?