There is Nothing Disordered About Obsessive-Compulsives

I have OCD (notice I did not say "suffer from"). My father, on the other hand, suffers. He is a step below Jack Nicholson's character in "As Good as it Gets".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44DCWslbsNM

I have learned a few things about OCD. For one, it has both a genetic and an environmental component. In other words, partially hereditary. I have also learned that OCD is an anxiety disorder meaning that obsessive-compulsives experience additional stress in day-to-day living because of the condition.

Fortunately, I know I have OCD and am able to keep a lid on it most of the time. I know that my desire for order goes beyond the bounds of what is socially acceptable and so I have learned some coping mechanisms. One is willful blindness. I have decided that (with the exception of special events) sweeping the house is not my concern. I do plenty of other chores (including windows) and for whatever reason, the floors is one of the places I have drawn a line. So I simply willfully ignore the dog hair and dirt until someone else gets around to sweeping.

But there are times, when I have the house to myself for a few days, that I hand the car keys to my disorder and say, "She's got a full tank of gas - lett'er rip!). this is one of those times. The wife and child are out of town visiting family for a few weeks and I have been in OCD overdrive. The entire house is dusted, the bathroom and kitchen are scrubbed, the laundry and dishes are done, the floor (yes, even the floors) have been swept and mopped, the yard work is done, the windows are sparkling clean (mostly), the dawgs have been bathed, my email inbox is empty and the budget is done (it sorta bothers me that the garbage cans in the driveway are not completely empty but trash day isn't until Wednesday . . .).

But here's the thing with OCD, once your life is ordered, you no longer have excuses to not do the more important things. Like writing (for instance) or going to the gym etc. The house is clean, ordered, peaceful - now what? So today is a turning point of sorts - I am out of excuses.

Well . . . not today. It's Sunday after all and I plan on enjoying a day of rest.

(But I have promised myself I can dust one surface and clean one window tomorrow . . . you gotta have something to look forward to! . . .)