Comfort zone is easy. You don’t need to think as much and it may be a stress-free area.
Outside the comfort zone is where you can learn new things of yourself. What you like, dislike, think about the world and things inside it. It might be stressful and scary there.
Too far outside the comfort zone may result in burnout or mental problems.
Why would i pursue things i’m trash at and don’t like? Just to prove that I can? Lol
Sometimes, yes. That’s how I got into ultra distance triathlon. But I stopped once I proved I could, so maybe a fail. But I’ve also stopped more hobbies than most people have started, so tough to find correlations between liking something and sticking with it.
This reminds me of something that the people that diagnosed me with adhd said that boiled down to me supposedly dropping hobbies and interests that I am not immediately good at. I felt like a lot of unfair assumptions were made about why things do or do not interest me.
Like… I am a chemist. It took 15 years to obtain my degree. And because of indecisiveness, I also have very nearly enough credits in biochem and physics to have two more degrees on top of that. Some of my hobbies: running molecular structure optimization calculations using multiple computational chemistry software suites, learning programming to be able to mod video games, designing meal plans from scratch using a spreadsheet that tracks 30+ food nutritional and other parameters for hundreds of foods (vetted by a dietician and was in part responsible for stabilizing my mother’s kidney failure and helping me lose 70+ pounds) The idea that I apparently dont have my own preferences that outweigh the difficulty of hobbies seems laughable to me given that.
I failed out of college once and almost twice before completing my degree 15 years after I started. I was diagnosed in my final semester. So not so much functional as incredibly stubborn.
I try new hobbies to see if I’ll actually like them. Usually it’s things I’m attracted to, but often it’s things I’m not interested in but have the chance to try. It’s about equal positives for both and I’m much more fulfilled, skilled, and happy for it. I aggressively pursue hobbies when circumstances mean I can no longer do one anymore much, or things begin to feel like they’ve been plateuing for a while and I’m not getting much out of it anymore.
There are things that have changed my entire lifestyle. But, to think, I could’ve never tried these things and subsequently never had known what would’ve been. There are things so hard I give up, but only for a while, and then try again, and again, and again.
One might say my primary hobby is finding fulfilling things. It seems a pretty smart way to put worth to finite time. I encourage everyone to go nuts with hobbies.
I am too, but I’ll admit i don’t mind. These comics along with some other posts I’ve come across have helped me understand ADHD. I always thought i was a little weird or different, but seeing how many people can relate to these helps me realize I’m not alone. Kinda nice to have something to point to that explains a lot of the awkwardness I’ve experienced over the years, especially in my social life. Still gotta seek guidance/therapy but identifying the condition is an important first step.
I was more just referencing that old meme, but I actually agree with you 100%. Comics like these are a really accessable way to normalize and understand things like ADHD.
I kinda thought that might be the case but i figured it was also a chance to share a bit of appreciation for the artist and the help these threads can provide. Right on!
![Why you have to call me out like that? [ADHDinos]](https://startrek.website/pictrs/image/5c13e9b2-76f6-4a22-b79e-4d00a70516eb.jpeg){kind=link}
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