MS is a disease of change
Have you ever needed to talk to someone yet you were scared stiff to do it because deep down you knew it was not going to go well? To prepare yourself, you planned out what you were going to say. You chose your words wisely and sounded so eloquent in your head. You even planned out their response. Everything seemed perfect.
When the time came, you sat down with them only to realize that things weren’t going as planned. They didn’t follow the script you laid out in your head. We’ve all had those moments. In most cases we can look back at those times and smile because, in the end, things worked out just not the way we thought they would.
Life has a way of doing that. It doesn’t go as planned no matter how hard we try to force it to. And sometimes we try really hard.
Before multiple sclerosis, I had my life all planned out. My career was set. My goals were laid out. I was going places and doing things. Then MS came along and changed everything around.
I think about it kind of like this…
There’s a comfort knowing that I can park my car in a certain spot every day; that if I open the top drawer in my bathroom cabinet I will find the toothpaste neatly tucked away; that when I go to the grocery store the tomatoes are to the right and the napkins are to the left.
But what would happen if I pulled into my driveway and couldn’t get into the garage because the garage door wouldn’t open; or I opened the drawer in the bathroom cabinet and the toothpaste exploded splattering all over my new dress; or if the grocery store decided to move everything around and change the entire floor plan?
What would happen? Frustrations would be high and schedules would get delayed. Now if those things were to happen all at once and then change every single day into the future, well that’s a life with MS and not something you ever get used to.
MS is a disease of change and that much unexpected change can be hard.
When things don’t happen the way you think they should, don’t let that ruin your day. When change is the only thing constant in your life, don’t allow frustration to rule the day.
MS has this way of switching things up on you without warning. Because of that, it’s important to sort through everything going on and choose to focus on the things that really matter in life.
Focus on family, friends, your faith, things that give you peace and happiness, and leave behind everything else that really, in the long run, doesn’t matter. Live in the moment. This way, when change comes (because we all know it will), you will be able to move right through it and keep going.
1. Simplify your life.
Thank you for this post. I’ll find it helpful when I try to explain that I experience constant change with this disease, and that no one is more frustrated with it than I.
Thanks… it is truly frustrating. xoxo
Well said. I come from a family of high achievers and I often wonder how they would handle the interruption of chronic illness.
Definitely hard to know. Interruptions in life are hard no matter what they are.
I love your site and your posts. It aligns so much for me personally!
And like this post, can give words or clarity I may not be able to eloquently articulate myself.
Thanks Heather. Glad you have found my site. I try my best to write things that matter. Sending you hugs. xoxo
Just seeing This but it’s Grrreattt!! Such a great way to describe this MonSter!
I describe to my sister that I was just going along in life when suddenly was hit with a 2×4, again, as I felt like that when my 2mth old died of SIDS, BUT Nooo…this 2×4 splinters everything and continues to damage me every damn day…I just keep trying