Prescription Adderall

As far as that side-discussion on alternate medications, remember that there's a whole range of ADHD severities. As a teacher, I've seen and had to discussions with many students on the severity of their symptoms. For many, it's extremely severe and medication is the only thing that keeps them focused for the day

Right. In other words, to get them to quit behaving like kids and instead sit down, shut up, and do what they're told all day, every day, you have to drug them.

I'm almost 52 years old, and you'd have to drug me, too. I still won't sit down, shut up, and do what I'm told all day long. I would flip out if I didn't get the exercise I needed to manage my energy levels.

Not to mention, the children realize that 95% of the garbage they learn in school is useless. Do teachers think kids don't know this? Who wants to sit still all day and be force-fed useless, uninteresting garbage?

I hated school, even though it was easy and I was at the top of my class. In fact, I was taking a college calculus course when I was 15. But I knew they were just wasting my time. I resented it terribly. I still get angry when I think about all the things I could have done with the first 18 years of my life. Thank God for sports, anyhow! That was the best part!

I thought about this conversation a lot yesterday. I said to my girl, "These people are giving children drugs to keep them quiet and still instead of managing the kid's energy properly. If you exercise hard enough for long enough, you can sit quietly and concentrate for a relatively long period.

Now you might say there are certain exceptions that never seem to run out of energy. Ok, great! Then keep them outside running! That's obviously what they need! They can learn about the ancient Egyptians some other time, like when they're 70, and might be interested in such things.

I just think it's insane they label children as having a disease if they won't sit quietly and learn uninteresting, useless garbage all day long. To this day I will not go along easily if you try to force me to do things against my will, even for a little while. I think about wasting my time at the DMV arguing with people because 23 forms of identification isn't enough, or sitting in a college classroom learning garbage I know has nothing to do with my chosen profession, and it makes me want to take a baseball bat to the entire thing.

If you have to drug someone to get them to go along with your plan, you might consider it's your plan that's the problem, not the person righteously opposed to it.

If you have to drug someone to get them to go along with your plan, you might consider it's your plan that's the problem, not the person righteously opposed to it.

I love this statement!

My wife and I raised three children. Early on in their public education we were advised that medications would help our children do better in school.

We seriously questioned that approach and decided we'd take them out of a system that relied on such logic. We did the homeschool thing. Our approach was uniquely our own, and we worked with each child individually, allowing them to particularly pursue the things they were interested in.

Two of them chose to go to college after we "graduated" them. Both of them obtained their respective degrees with honors in a timely manner. The child that chose not to go to college leads a very successful life in the mountains of Colorado. None of them ever needed the pharmaceutical companies assistance. They simply needed someone to work with them in a way that made sense.

I'm convinced most of our education and our medication is purposely designed to control our behavior and how we spend our resources. Freedom from tyranny sometimes requires radical actions. Personally, I love freedom.

*like on this Old School!

Chose the same educational path with my children, for the exact same reasons.

All three are successful and happy, standing on their own two feet.

If you have to drug someone to get them to go along with your plan, you might consider it's your plan that's the problem, not the person righteously opposed to it.

I love this statement!

My wife and I raised three children. Early on in their public education we were advised that medications would help our children do better in school.

We seriously questioned that approach and decided we'd take them out of a system that relied on such logic. We did the homeschool thing. Our approach was uniquely our own, and we worked with each child individually, allowing them to particularly pursue the things they were interested in.

Two of them chose to go to college after we "graduated" them. Both of them obtained their respective degrees with honors in a timely manner. The child that chose not to go to college leads a very successful life in the mountains of Colorado. None of them ever needed the pharmaceutical companies assistance. They simply needed someone to work with them in a way that made sense.

I'm convinced most of our education and our medication is purposely designed to control our behavior and how we spend our resources. Freedom from tyranny sometimes requires radical actions. Personally, I love freedom.

So, Brett, that is an amazing routine. What would your routine be if you were still doing OTR full time?

It would contain all the same elements, but I'd have to adjust the schedule to fit everything into my day.

I ran a lot when I was on the road, and I had dumbbells with me. I did yoga and meditated, too.

Managing your physical, mental, and emotional energy throughout the day should be a key consideration in a person's routine. You need the right mix of intensity and tranquility in all three areas to be at your best when you need it and to sleep hard when the time comes.

My day alternates between times of intensity and tranquility. I start my day with tranquility, doing yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises. Then, I get mentally intense for a couple of hours doing computer work. I follow that with an hour of physical and mental intensity as I exercise hard while learning something important from an audiobook or a video.

I cap off all that intensity with an ice-cold shower.

So far, I've had plenty of tranquility, followed by plenty of intensity. Now it's time to trade the stock market, which I do for about three hours daily. Although you might think that's intense, I'm attempting to keep it tranquil. I remain calm; I listen to slow jazz, and I breathe slowly to make sure I don't get caught up in any emotions. I want my mind to remain calm and clear for those three hours, so I try to make it a meditative environment.

After all that, I'm ready for a nap.

After the nap, I wake up with some coffee and check on the markets before doing a bout of afternoon exercise. Then, I take time to handle unfinished business and wrap up the workday. That leads to an hour of wine and music, followed by cooking steaks and seafood on the grill.

Alternating between periods of intensity and tranquility is how you manage your mental, physical, and emotional energy. If your schedule changes from day to day, like an OTR driver, it's that much more important to find ways of alternating between intensity and tranquility to maintain peak performance and health.

Eating one meal per day actually keeps my energy high throughout the day. Eating makes you feel heavy and sleepy. If you're getting cravings during the day, it's because you're eating too many carbs and sugars. Proteins and fats don't cause cravings. I don't get hungry throughout the day because my body is primed to get energy from fat, not carbs, and we all have plenty of fat. So eating once a day is key to maintaining my energy levels, along with proper hormone levels, especially insulin.

When you see my routine and understand why I manage my energy the way I do, you might understand why I'm opposed to labeling children as having a disease and drugging them because they can't sit quietly all day long. The real problem, in my experience, is that their energy isn't being managed properly. If we gave them a routine where they could alternate between periods of proper intensity and tranquility, you would find them to be far more manageable. All that's left is to feed them a lot of meat and teach them something they actually care about.

Right. In other words, to get them to quit behaving like kids and instead sit down, shut up, and do what they're told all day, every day, you have to drug them.

I'm almost 52 years old, and you'd have to drug me, too. I still won't sit down, shut up, and do what I'm told all day long. I would flip out if I didn't get the exercise I needed to manage my energy levels.

Nope. I'm talking about the upper range of severity, aka the kids who need it, they need it to literally be able to have a conversation. I'm talking life stuff. To be able to focus enough to take care of themselves through the day. Or be focused enough to get their basic driver license. To be able to hold down a job at McDonald's.

I used meds for a little while going back to school, cycled through a few different meds, then ultimately stopped taking them, because mine wasn't severe.

Nope. I'm talking about the upper range of severity, aka the kids who need it, they need it to literally be able to have a conversation.

What percentage of kids fall under this description?

I remember a time when I got hurt at work and assigned to light duty. They had me signing for packages and answering the phone. It was the worst 3 weeks I've had in recent memory. I was anxious and bored out of my mind. I'm not built to sit behind a desk for 8 hours straight. I'd imagine that what an active kid in school feels like.