I'm ready for a new year

It’s hard to believe that a new year is here. It’s a new year, a new day, I have a fresh cup of coffee… but same ole body. Hmm, that didn’t go as planned. I guess you can’t have everything you wish for. I tried wishing for a million dollars too but that didn’t work out for me either. I still have the same bills, house payments, piles of dirty laundry, and still have multiple sclerosis to battle.

We have all come through some crazy moments and stumbled through them into another year. Maybe things didn’t go as you wanted, but you made it. Now, that’s something to celebrate along with all the fireworks, champaign bottles and shouts of Happy New Year.

I can see a lot of good in the bad. Yes, there were some not-so-good days, some terrible days, and some downright terrifying ones… but if I truly look, I can see past those times and find the good. Days that made me smile instead of cry. 2024 can be filled with those kinds of days too. Be determined to find the good in the days, weeks and months ahead… even in the pain and the struggle.

Multiple sclerosis is not an easy disease to live with, but neither is the disease of negative thinking. Choose this coming year to live each day looking for the good. Even if there is only one tiny spec of good in a day, choose to find that one spec and hold onto it. It will make your year ahead greater than you ever imagined.

Some people have asked me if I have a resolution for the new year and the only answer I have is that I plan to be a better person than the person I was yesterday. That’s my plan for every day. I make many mistakes along the way in life. Some hurt me, some hurt others, and some have no consequences other than the fact that things could have been handled better.

There are some things I have learned about life along the way. The key is the keep learning. That is the key to life. That is what makes things the most enjoyable. And that is what helps us to progress and improve.

Perfection doesn’t exist, stop looking for it.
It’s not your job to make everyone happy, cut your losses and go.
Choose to spend your time with people who lift you up.
Kindness makes you a better person. Be kind — always.
Only you are the person who can change your life.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. 99.9% of the stuff in life is small.
Living with MS is not a competition. Really, it’s not.
Don’t spend too much time in negative environments. You can drown that way.
People may never understand your pain, don’t hold it against them.
You never have to deal with more than one moment at a time.
Getting truly organized can vastly improve anyone’s life.
Revenge is for the petty and irresponsible.
If anything is worth splurging on, it’s a high-quality mattress. You’ll spend a third of your life using it.
Most of what children learn from their parents isn’t taught on purpose.
Problems, when they arise, are rarely as painful as the experience of fearing them.
Life is a solo trip, but you’ll have lots of visitors. Some of them are long-term, most aren’t.
Wishing things were different is a great way to torture yourself.
The ability to be happy is nothing other than the ability to come to terms with how things change.