Athletics and Me

I was blessed with a very active life until I started falling into other participants on the racecourse. Fortunately I had physicians on my team that recognized a “problem”. I went to a neurologist in town and was eventually diagnosed with MS. I was almost 70 years old!

Dampening the "why me" business

It took more than a few doctor visits to get closer to gratitude and dampen the “why me” business. Now after many years of “work outs”, I remember that my sports life would never be the same so I focused on what I could do instead of what I couldn’t do! What a pain!

Laughter lightens the load

I decided to volunteer in my neighborhood with a gentleman that has a horrendous neurological condition and babysit dogs! The gent that I am exercising with laughs with me when we are boxing... I sit, he faces me in his wheelchair. Wham, wham - WE not only have stronger core strength but we name people we want to punch in the nose and “box” instead. We laugh when the stretchy bands get away from us and I get popped, we laugh about having to buy our undergarments at the drug store! We laugh about just about everything. Laughter lightens the load.

Staying above water

This is not to say that I don’t have my moments... I’ve cried, complained, cursed and screamed aloud... the incredible unfairness... why couldn’t this have happened to someone who wasn’t moving anyway!! It took more than a moment to get to sanity... my gratitude list and my friends and my infusions are all helping me “stay above water”. While I find no friend in MS, I do have a better grip on acceptance and a new willingness to accept help (instead of, “I can do it myself”).