Shrimp are cool

Source: https://youtu.be/UXWckTAw3JY (Saltwater shrimp depicted here but it’s from monterey and they are still cool in their own way)

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.

We need new copypasta, I’m tired of variations of this same story about OPs life being turned around by becoming completely obsessed with some niche.