How MS Has Improved My Life

How MS has improved my life

Wait.... what? How did having multiple sclerosis improve my life? Did I write that wrong? Actually no, I did not. Please let me explain. While having this disease can have some drawbacks, I really don’t need to explain that part. But It did surprisingly enough, bring me some good things.

Weeding out your friend list

First off.

My friends. With this disease you will soon find your friends list will be “weeded out”. You will learn quickly enough who your true friends are compared to your fake friends, as I call them. In this day and age it seems that people online want to have the biggest number of friends, to show off maybe? But when it comes down to it, you usually only talk to a small portion of that list anyways. That’s the same with real life.

The list may dwindle

Now, with this disease, that list may in fact dwindle even smaller. There are people out there that don’t want to plan things with you because you may have special needs. It’s a burden, they would think. So, let’s just exclude that person. After all, it’s not my fault they got sick, right? They often enough do not want to be reminded they are mortal, that things happen to people. They would just want to have a beer and talk about sports. So, suddenly they just vanish. But that’s a good thing in my opinion.

The true friends stand with you

In turn, the true friends you will find will go out of their way to plan things with you in mind. They will go out of their way to come to your house instead of the other way around. They will want to listen, to see and to show empathy. They want to hold your hand, as a true friend will walk that journey with you, to help fight it and to smile along the way. These are the friends that will stand with you, for the rest of your life.

The importance of family

Secondly.

Family. You sometimes take them for granted. It’s true. We love em to death, but yes, sometimes you do. When you become sick, with any disease of course, you soon realize how close you are with those guys. You see the love overflow. The care in their eyes, the special surprise visits, the long talks and never-ending support. They want to come with you to the doctors. They want to wait while you get an MRI. They want to know everything the doctor has told you. In the end, it brings the family closer then you have ever realized.

Being in a wheelchair no longer allows me to blend in

Thirdly.

No more blending in. I am the kind of person who has always loved to blend in. I wear clothes that do not attract attention, I do not do things that would make a person stare. I just have always loved the quiet life. To go zip into a store and zip out as soon as I was done. Being in a wheelchair now, that’s not the case. When I come rolling down the street, no matter what I am wearing or doing, I am noticed. Yes, being in a wheelchair will always grant you center attention. Deal with it, welcome to your new world. But, what I have noticed is people will smile and say hello to you as you pass. They will help you if they see you in the store. Is there something on the high shelf? They will grab it for you. You might even strike up a conversation and in the end make a new friend.

Never taking life for granted

Fourth.

I have always loved to go outside. But you never realize just how incredible it is until it is taken away from you. Being mostly bedridden, my outside world is the window besides me. When I am able, when the day is just right where my body isn’t wrecked, I can go outside for a short amount of time. When that day does happen and I step out into the world, I am always blown away by its beauty. Be it a path near the meadows, or a downtown trip to a cafe. I forget that life is truly incredible. Life is something you should never take for granted.

That takes me to my last point.

Loving life like never before

Life. It is also so easy to forget how wonderful life is. We get caught up in the hustle and bustle of it all. You just never think about it. That is until you get sick. How it slowly in time tries to strip everything away, anything you love to do. Yes, it’s quite good at that. It made me realize how special every minute of the day is, and will be to come. It makes me smile. I laugh more now, now that I am sick, then I ever have in my life. I just love life. One hundred percent. I love everything about it. It wasn’t like that before.

But yes, MS has improved my life. It will improve yours as well. Sure, it still is MS, but the other aspects. It plants a seed next to you. Just watch it grow and smile.