Challenge MS~Make it Your Blessing

There is not one person I know who asked for MS. I certainly know I didn't! However,I challenge all of you to turn your anger,sadness,bitterness or whatever negative feelings you are feeling about your diagnosis into something positive. I realize right now I have probably already lost about 75% of those who read the blogs on this site, but for the other 25% who are willing to stick it out to see just how crazy I am I thank you in advance!

When I was diagnosed in 2010 I have to say that given the choice I was given between a brain tumor and MS, I was thrilled first of all to find that I had MS. Having been a nurse for 27 years at the time, I knew that MS was no longer a death sentence as in years past. Little did I know, my course would be rocky and aggressive over the next 3 years.

Fast forward to 2012 I had to give up my career as an Emergency Department manager, a job that I truly loved. I was facing 6 months of chemotherapy since I had failed on Copaxone and Tysabri. I had lost so much weight and looked anorexic. My mind no longer worked as it once did and I knew it was time to go.

Now you must be asking yourself how I found the blessing in all this. After I left my job, taking disability I found how out of balance my life really was. I began reading a book called "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. I then added to other books written by Byrne, called "The Magic" and "The Power". These three books gave me the greatest gift of all. I learned how to find the positive in absolutely every single thing that happened to me.

The premise of all of these books is simply the law of attraction. The law of attraction simply means that you get back whatever you give out to the universe. If you send our positive you will recieve the same in return. It is not selective so if you find yourself complaining about your health, your relationships or your debt you will simply atrract more of the same. I began to focus on the things I have right now to be grateful for on a daily basis and after several months of practicing this faithfully, my life began to change.

My health did begin to improve. I gained weight, the chemotherapy did it's job and I was able to return to a disease modifying drug. I had a boyfriend which I had not had in more than 8 years. My stress level was at an all time low, I simply learned to react differently to things that in the past would have driven me nuts! My entire way of reacting to situations became my choice! I was finally in control of my future!

While I realize that my MS will take it's course as it chooses, I do believe that controlling my responses to things like stress have made a huge difference in the number of flares I have had since adopting this way of life. I also realized that being a workaholic had everything to do with throwing my life out of balance and realized how much time I lost with the people I love. I renewed compassion for those who presented to my ER who appeared healthy, knowing that they may have an invisible disease just as I do. Certainly you cannot judge a book by it's cover. I give more, I recieve more. If it had not been for my MS, I might be still in the unhealthy pattern of working too much, judging books by their cover and failing to spend time with my family and friends.

Find your silver lining however you can. Don't let your MS be your storm, let it be empowering. Let it be your blessing. You can't change what you have given, but you and only you can change how you react to it.