It only becomes a problem once there is a solution for it

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was about 40 years old.

I've been like this since I remember, we can assume since I was born, but it only became "something" while we were looking for ways to help our son cope with his difficulty concentrating in school.

It was both surprising and refreshing when the doctor explain, matter-of-factly, that he had inherited it from his father... Wait a second, SAY WHAT?!?!?!

Once I was told I had ADHD it suddenly became "an issue", something I could actually change and treat. Up that point, during my whole life, concentration was something I had to work very hard to stick with.

To me it had been a constraint all my life, something I dealt with constantly with music, closing doors, looking for specific times in the day when I could work better, strict routines, etc.

I was not even aware this was not the way everyone else had to work. That it was only me.

Up until there was a solution, it had always been a constraint. Like the fact that we need air to breath and so we cannot live under water. Or knowing that we do not have wings and so we cannot fly by ourselves.

Well, once I was able to take a small pill in order to go out flying like the rest of my peers, it became both a problem and something I can solve.

The upside of all of this is that, during my 40+ years of not knowing this, I developed personal techniques and tools that are really useful in may everyday life.

It's like becoming good at working with a screwdriver and a hammer, and then realizing you can also use power tools in your work :-)