Am I a control freak, have A.D.D or hyperactive?

Watching Offspring last night I was thinking, I am so glad I am not like Nina’s character!!  I am so glad I am not that much of a control freak like Nina, but am I?  I like things to be done in a certain order & my way and if they don’t get done I do get a little anxious, isn’t that just how a normal busy person goes about his or her day?

I  have post-it notes in certain places at work reminding me of the things I need to do individually, posted around the place, my to-do list is never enough and I always seem to get flustered and re-write my to-do list (I mean who DOES that).  I get overwhelmed if I am running late, miss a meeting or completely miss a catch-up with a friend (example of my alarm being set the wrong day last week, a stranded close friend at a café).  This kind of stuff makes me feel sick.  Wonder how some people are wired like that and some not?

I have always been like this though, it hasn’t been something that has progressed as my life got busier, hectic from living in bigger cities (I grew up in a small little red dusty mining town) – I have always been GO GO GO get things done. I am hyperactive – have always been, I NEED to know what is going on and be in control of pretty much everything.  I am super nosey (I mean I was born TWO MONTHS early) I was destined to get out and see what on earth was going on around me, I started walking and no surprise to anyone, started talking earlier than I should, not bad for a sick premmy baby with asthma hey (all those steroids perhaps)? 

I don’t dictate to others around me what I require done (even though some managers have told me they are scared of me), I mean what is that? I am a perfectionist; I take my tasks seriously most days and find it uber frustrating when people just do not seem to do things properly the first time. Oh dear.   The one thing I don’t do is critise myself for NOT completing a task (ie If I don’t get this contract done I will get fired), I don’t micromanage others to make me happy or point out what people do wrong at every opportunity, so maybe just a mild control freak in my own lunchbox? 

I find I do jump at any opportunity to assist people; does that make me controlling or just helpful? I think sometimes both.   I react better in extreme emergencies but sometimes small little insignificant things drive me mental (forgetting to buy bus pass, remembering only whilst on the pre-pay bus). I see it as being organised, not controlling, or is that the same thing?  I suppose I am only responsible for me so as long as I am doing that it isn’t really affecting anyone else?

From a young age exercise has helped me control my hyperactivity. I think tapping into our adrenalin stores daily is a healthy thing, it assists the body with stress, reduces stress hormones build up and generally gives a sense of well-being, homeopathy.  The “fight” or “flight” mechanism spurred by adrenaline and used by man for survival is still part of modern life really.  Helps us all in sport or social situations, interviews (nerves much).  I suppose nowadays we don’t use the adrenaline surge as much as we used to (think primitive times running away from wild animals) and this gets stored and can cause the body to have such conditions as premature aging, hyperactivity (ahem which is where I come in) and ADD.

I have always believed that 80-90% of kids who doctors think they have ADD just need to run around more and release the stress in their tiny bodies – stress from society putting more pressure on us, eating take away food etc.  I think this contributes to the “control freak” and increases anxiety in society, which cannot be a good thing.

For me being organised is key, working out my week, my action list, my exercise, eating healthy, spending time with friends, loved ones and enjoying quality sleep and downtime all help the body to be less of a control hyper freak and seem much more in control!