Caring for others is good for you. Even if you look at it selfishly, it is still true.
Having “chores” associated with those people or things you care for is also good for you.
Think of the memes and the stories of tech workers turning into goose farmers. It’s not a beautiful-feeling idea because goose farms have better air conditioning and more expensive chairs, lol.
Coincidentally, I plan to head off to my engineering job like usual tomorrow morning, but I am also sitting here with frozen fingertips because I was outside cleaning the filters in my koi pond for the first time this spring. In general, it seems like the more animals we get (we have a lot, in small suburban home) the messier my physical surroundings are but the clearer my brain is.
Edit to add: an unsung benefit of such hobbies and obligations is the ability to go deep into learning about things that interest you, without having to worry about taking a test about it. It can be very satisfying and enriching for the ADHD brain. In my case, from high school science onwards I was way into physics & electricity and turned hard away from chemistry and biology. But now I could talk all day about everything behind that “cycled tank” line in the OP. Likewise, my high school chemistry teacher told us horror stories about organic chemistry, but now it genuinely interests me because I care about oxidation of organics in my water.
I adopted an old dogfrom the shelter a few years ago and I always said that it turned my life around
I always think of this dude I met in college, got a pitbull to get off heroin and it worked for him.
I like how this comment is right after another in my view, where the poster says he adopted a dog which turned his life around
Shrimp
"If you can't be handsome, be interesting. If you can't be interesting, be useful."
I can't remember who said it but it seems to fit here.
Shrimp, shrimp. Good for the heart. The more you eat them, the more you fart.
No, but, yeah, but no, but raising freshwater shrimp is surprisingly easy. It's very relaxing and entertaining to watch them go about their shrimpy lives. The truly freshwater species can complete their entire lifecycle in freshwater, which simplifies the whole set-up compared to many tropical saltwater and brackish varieties, and which also means you can have perpetual shrimp once you reach a critical mass.
Granted, there are some finicky varieties of freshwater shrimp that might be stressful to raise because if you so much as sneeze in their general direction, they'll die. Or if you don't tightly control the population via culling and/or separate out different color varieties, you can end up with a population that no longer produces bright colors. Also, there are various species of shrimp that are passed off as "freshwater" but which actually require salt and/or brackish water environments to reliably breed them in cultivation or which may be impossible to actually breed. So you definitely should do some research before you dive in.
Having someone who's dependent on your care can absolutely be a driver for kicking executive dysfunction's butt! For me it was my first child. She'd wake up in the middle of the night and I'd try everything except for the diaper and save the diaper for absolute last because I didn't want to change it, and it was just a little wet so it was fine. Quickly learned that was just a waste of time and forcing me to be zombie awake for longer so I finally just stopped putting it off and would change her diaper as one of the first steps of the middle of the night wakeup routine. Routine complete much faster and with much less laying back down and then getting back up.
I’m so happy for Anon. I feel kinda silly, but this story made me tear up a little bit.
I has the exact same reaction. I feel like a dork for it, but it's just so god damn wholesome.
yea, it shrimped me a bit, too
Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried.
SHRAMP
Oh, I have shrimp. Mine are near zero care opae ula; I top off the tank with distilled water occasionally but that’s it. Well, and I have them on a light cycle so the algae grows.
Still, if anyone is interested or feels like shrimp would improve their lives, feel free to respond and I can help set up a new tank. Mine are truly near zero maintenance though so I don’t know if it would be a profound life change like OP’s.
I was actually thinking of these exact guys the other day. I haven't had a tank of anything in a couple years. But as I'm getting my life and place back in order I'm yearning for another aquarium
I know the basics of these guys. And I find them absolutely fascinating! And even being "zero maintenance" doesn't negate any feelings of accomplishment. I have a plant that has curly leaves that I'm over the moon about
Where'd you get your guys? Do they breed in your tank conditions?
Yooo it's the shrimpmaxxing greentext! I love this one!
Dude acts like the shrimp don't know
beautiful story. power of the shrimp got him to quit thru one of the worst withdrawals
What's aq?
Ahn'Qiraj
The real answer here
relationship with parents improves since I am finally passionate about something and applying myself
yeah right, lies, fabrications
your parents are supposed to castigate you for wasting your time with doing something you like doing
that's what real and good parents do
TL;DR: OOP got some shrimp, had a psychotic episode and now thinks the shrimp are girls that like him.
Me too
by this point I live and breathe shrimp ar the buffet.
🥺
