New Inspiration for the New Year

Happy New Year! If you live with a chronic disease like Parkinson’s, you may know the difficulty in being inspired. Especially if you are vulnerable like me to all the stress and tension the holidays seem to bring. So, what is there to be inspired about? Life unimagined. Allow me to explain. The significance of 2019 brings hope in a many different ways.

Adopt a new attitude!

Change your way of thinking. This isn’t always easy. Depression, apathy, feelings of anxiety even fear often associated with Parkinson’s disease may block our vision or get in the way of inspiration. There are the physical or outward manifestations of PD that bury us under an avalanche of self-pity and loathing. You’ve got to really want to experience life and the new things the new year holds and fight to overcome the challenges PD throws at you. For me personally, 2019 marks my 24th year living with my diagnosis but as my wife reminds me, it isn’t the latitude or longitude that determines successful living with PD but instead the attitude. Honestly, there has been a lot of ups and downs but we make the most of every day our creator gives us.

Making the most of today!

I hear people often say, live life to the fullest! What does that really mean? I’m so tired some days, half way through the day, I’m ready for a nap. How about you? Whether you’ve got PD or not, living life can be complicated by our own design. Between work, family and social events, who has that kind of time? God blessed us with smart phones, iPads and portable lap top computers to keep us running on schedule and many people swear by that technology but others swear at them if you catch my drift. We live in a fast paced culture where you can check the news of the day while browsing the latest fashions and still manage to pick up dinner. My point to make the most of each day is designed to provide hope because where there is hope, therein you will find joy.

Hope for the future!

I know you’ve all heard this mantra before, hope is just around the corner. I hear the words in my head but it seems the corner keeps getting further and further away. It could just be that I’m getting slower and slower but I keep walking, hoping, praying that a breakthrough will come. During the course of my diagnosis, I’ve learned a thing or two about research and persistence. Avoiding any additional clichés, let’s just say, I am very optimistic about the future and for what the new year holds. I urge you also to expect great things coming down the pike that will benefit the PD community and those of us living with PD.

Get involved!

You can help advance research for PD by joining clinical trials and encouraging others to do likewise. The National Institutes of Health’s website has a list including contact information. These clinical trials are essential for the forward progress toward finding a cure and better treatments of people living with PD. You are not alone. There are hundreds of studies involving thousands of participants. So be proactive. Who knows, you could be the missing piece to the puzzle of curing PD.

So here is my challenge to you. Determine that you won’t let this year go by waiting and wallowing in pity on the side lines of life. There are dozens of healthy alternatives even for those living with PD. So even if you don’t feel like it, get off the couch or out of the house and dance, box, try yoga or some other PD program that suits you. Remember, adopt a new attitude, make the most of every day, have hope for the future and get involved. Above all, just get out there and do it and remember to keep battling my friends!