The end of a good week, with my previous post getting picked up and reposted by the MS Trust and retweeted by a couple of other people. Nice - thanks a lot.
I had a board meeting the other night - one of the trustees where I work has also got MS and we had an interesting chat about my recent relapse and her almost complete remission.
She was saying that she pretty much has no ill-effects from her MS, and she puts this down to her mental attitude – which is, rather than
thinking about all the things MS has taken away from her, she
concentrates on all the things it has given her.
Not that this is all 'happy-clappy' or anything - but this all ties into my adventures in CBT and (for example) the idea of naming your MS.
I fully intended to blog further about this, but this morning I ended up writing most of it in some (long and rambling) comments on this excellent post on Stumbling in Flats. So go an have a look at that.
And while you're off visiting other blogs, have a look at this amazing post,
Why Mindfulness is a Critical Tool for Living with MS on Everyday Mindfulnes.
I'm a recent-but-pretty-much-complete convert to the worlds of CBT and Mindfulness but this can be an incredibly powerful tool for "attitude recalibration".
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Hmm. I partially agree with your friend. I like to think that I have a positive attitude to my MS and that I don't let it stop me doing anything. In fact, I probably exercise harder now than pre-diagnosis, fatigue and numbness and stuff notwithstanding.... but, I dunno. It's a bit like a thin person thinking that a fat person must by default be lazy. I do have a positive mental attitude to this and I refuse to wallow, but I"m also acutely conscious that my particular circumstances mean I am a lot more physically able than some other people suffering from the same condition. I could wake up tomorrow and struggle to use one of my legs. That would impact my running for sure, but it's outside of my control and no amount of positive thinking is going to change that. We all know that it's no good focusing on what might happen, but I'm pretty sure it's not all down to attitude.
ReplyDeleteThat said, we all have a choice, don't we: get on with life or don't.
Hey there!
DeleteI'd hate if I came across as saying "jolly well pull your socks up, and stop moaning". This was if anything aimed at myself - like you, my MS has impacted on my life in small ways. But sometimes I can wallow - I'm human!
I guess my main thing is based around an old fashioned concept of SOLIDARITY. I'm currently well enough to look after myself and my family. Some people really aren't.
If my daft little blog can (in whatever insignificant way) be helpful to people, or make someone who's newly diagnosed feel a little less helpless, or that - like in the 'Models of Disability' I talked about before - it's not THEIR FAULT that they're ill, then that's all good.
But we're really all in this together. So lets look out for each other, eh?
I don't know if that makes any sense or not! Tired...!
Amen brother. Makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteFWIW you strike a good balance in your writing, btw.
ReplyDeleteActually, thinking about it, you're right: finding out your have or might have MS is scary and lonely. Lots of MS blogs are terrifying, but some - yours included - are warm,realistic and inclusive. They're the good ones and the world is a better informed place for them. My MS is mostly invisible, but I talk about it and make no secret of it because it's the only way to get people to challenge their preconceptions. We're in this together, right? And we are not alone.
ReplyDeletecheers, man!
ReplyDelete