Don't Let Your Disease Define You!
By the time most of us reach the sixties, seventies and so on, we face health challenges. It may be surgery, cancer, heart problems and other chronic diseases. Faced with this challenge we have two options. We can give in to our illnesses and accept the inevitable. Or we can fight and refuse to let the disease determine us.
I have a friend with Multiple Sclerosis who has the most amazing attitude to her life and illness. She made the decision to change her life. He decided that he would not let Multiple Sclerosis determine it. He did not want to be known by his words as "Men with MS".
That was fifteen years ago when my friend was sixty years old. She is now seventy-five years old and is living an active and active life with the passion and energy of a younger man. How did he do that? Did he get a miracle cure? No, he refused to let his illness determine him and put obstacles on how he wanted to live. Now she could easily admit that she was going through a time of self-pity and was angry and afraid of the possible future. But at first he escaped this thought and decided to fight MS. Here are some actions she took.
Become an expert: He researched and read about the disease.
Take Action: Knowledge is power, but only when you apply your knowledge. So my friend with the help of good medical advice took action.
Join the Support Group: She joins local and national support groups and is a local speaker for people with disabilities.
Eat Right: He maintains a healthy diet that consumes only whole foods, lean protein and plenty of vegetables. He also took supplements known to improve his condition.
Exercise: He relies on strengthening exercises and swimming. One day he lifted his weight and the next day he swam half a mile in the morning and again in the evening.
The result of all these positive actions was that he was always amazed at his doctor. Unfortunately, Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic disease that has no cure. My friends are now using sticks for short walks and scooters for more treks. But what has not changed is his positive attitude. He didn't talk about MS or think about the fact that he was disabled. He may be defying the fact that someone will use that term to define it.
The lesson here is simple, yet profound. We all face or face challenges in our lives. Hope not challenge my friend. It's not the challenge of illness, physical problems, mental or physical problems, but how we deal with these issues that really make a difference. Whenever I feel a little tired or just want to roll and pull the lid on my head, I think of what my friend goes through every day.
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