How to Cope When Everything Keeps Changing

I always say that living with multiple sclerosis changes normal (whatever that actually is) and everyone around me is finally getting a taste at having to find their new normal in the midst of the crazy world we live in. If someone could find normal for me and let me know where and what it is, I’d like to know so I wouldn’t have to spend so much time searching for it.

One great thing about the changes I have had to make is I get an opportunity to evaluate life a bit more closely and get rid of the toxic people and unnecessary things that were making life harder… without the added guilt. I know my life has gotten less complicated because of it and I like that.

Someone asked me, “How can you be positive surrounded by the mess happening in the world today?” Being a positive person while living with multiple sclerosis sounds like an impossibility. Is it even possible? Some would say it can’t be done. They would say that MS is so full of uncertainties, pain and complications that there is no way to face it with a positive attitude. But it can be done and is being done by thousands of people every day.

How can anyone keep a positive attitude while facing such hard times happening all around? Staying positive is not about hiding from the reality of what you are going through by trying to cover up the struggle in an attempt to keep the world from knowing it exists. MS exists. Hard times are real. Tears happen. No amount of covering it up is going to make it go away or lessen its troubles.

Being positive means that even though you are in the middle of the storm of all storms in life, you get out of bed in order to face a new day. Even when the pain has you doubled over in tears, you keep going. Even when your brain is foggy and your words are muddled, you give of yourself. Even when your life has spun out of control, you fight because you simply refuse to be defeated.

You are a fighter. Do you go through your day constantly complaining or do you try to find a small ray of light in the trial…a smile in the struggle? You can do this! You are doing this. I am so proud of you.

It’s alright to have negative thoughts when your path bends the wrong way or the unexpected happens. Don’t beat yourself up when negative feelings, thoughts, or words creep into your life. You haven’t done anything wrong. That’s just a part of being human. It’s okay to cry, to be afraid and get frustrated.

The challenge is to not let those negative things pull you down and hold you back from moving forward. Allow yourself to be real, to feel, cry, struggle and fight, yet still hang on to hope that today will be better than yesterday. Hope shows up when you need it the most. Hang onto hope. You got this.

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I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.
― C. JoyBell C.

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