Very nicely stated! Thank you!
Red
Sharon,
Thank you for sharing your innermost feelings and the journey you have traveled to get to the destination that you are at. You shared with us what I believe all of us have done in one form or another, grieve and get on with life.
However, your encounter that day with the "pub man" changed your thinking and may have even extended beyond that tiny ripple that grew and encompassed you and now hopefully will grow to encompass even more.
Thanks again!
Ren
Sharon,
My first year was tough. I was scared of all the what ifs. Now I am happier than I have been in my whole life. I live for the moment and do not worry about the future. I do what I can. I help others. I am going to be training a service dog for a man with Parkinsons as I trained Polly. I take Dressage riding, and work in my garden. Hopefully I will get back to art full time.
Alex
Sharon,
I cried reading your post because that is how I am feeling at this very moment. Thank you.
J
Sharon,
Beautiful post, thank you!
I believe I joined the forum while you were on your break...so it is very nice to meet you :-)
~Jess
Welcome back Sharon, I certainly hope you will pop through here on ocassion and share your experiences and thoughts. I loved reading of your emotional growth this past year.
We always tell newly diagnosed people to take time to learn to live with this disease and you give us another perfect example of how hard, yet simple that task can be.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Be well, Lulu
Thank you, Sharon, for this eloquent post. You are so right that attitude is an essential ingredient for getting through this reasonably well. Perspective makes such a difference.
Your circumstances are exactly the same--you still have MS with whatever problems or limitations it brings. But you have decided, and it *is* a decision, that you will not let this issue be the center of your universe. You spent 7 months being miserable, and now have spent the rest of the year much more content. How wonderful for you that you were able to be open to the possibilities. When you met the wheelchair-bound man, that was a lucky day for you, yet still, you needed to be ready to listen, and you were.
We have another thread going that you may not have seen:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/What-is-or-was-your-biggest-fear-upon-diagnosis/show/1338473
There, many of us talk about the emotional issues surrounding their diagnoses. In my part, I said, basically, that I won't let fear be part of my life. I choose to be as happy as I can be. Some people who don't understand this may believe it is dishonest. It is not. Everyone gets fears and everyone has bad days, but I am in control of the general mood of my life. It's a very pragmatic thing. I go with being as content as I can, and that makes me happy.
Best wishes to you.
ess
Thank you for sharing such a well thought out and from the heart introspection of what you have learned since your diagnosis. It can take some people years to reach this point and when they do, it can bring so much peace of mind.
I attended my first MS event yesterday and the doctor who was presenting the main topic said something that I've heard over and over in the past but finally made it through my thick brain.
She said that we should not let MS be the center of our existence. We may have MS, but the MS does not define who we are. Those words finally hit home with me. I realized that the reality of having MS is the same to me as, for example, the fact that I have 3 kids, am married, work in human resources, I've lived on an island before, etc. It is in the chain of facts that describe my life, but it's not the central point in my life.
Thanks again for sharing your experience. It was helpful and insightful.
J.
Sharon-
Great post! I very much enjoyed reading it. It is soo true. It is obvious you have lived it and come out the other side. Congrats to you.
Blessings to you, Julie
Hello, Thank you so much this post! Your words are so true and your emotions.......Well they are so understood!
In your last paragraph when you said that...MS and its symptoms are not the end of the world, Its how we chose to embrace them......That sure "Rings" a Bell in my ear!
i too am coming up on my One Year "Official" Dx and look back in this last year at what has changed in 'me".
I guess my answer would be.....to cut out all unnecessary "events", "situations", and Stessors in my life as well as Watch my faith Grow stronger and stronger in GOD and all the wonderful things he HAS givin me and not concentrate on the "things" that I have not!
You have an awesome outlook and hopefully you can also share your thoughts and experiences with everyday people...not only w/ MS but w/ anyone who has a chronic disease.
Be Well and Thanks again for your Positive thoughts,
~Tonya
Wow! Thanks so much, Sharon. Your words say more that I could express!
Welcome back. You stand as a wonderful reality check for those who are paralyzed, not by MS, but by fear.
I hope we see you around more.
Quix