Looking Ahead Can Result In a Better Today

I have Parkinson’s and I’m currently stage 2 or 3 depending on the day. If I don’t look at my life as being more than Parkinson’s, I can and sometimes do find myself in a day-to-day focus on my Parkinson’s symptoms.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a very serious chronic disease with no cure in sight. It is often viewed as an inevitable slow decline or as my friend likes to say: “A death of a thousand cuts”. 

Because of those views, many of us with Parkinson’s find looking forward too painful or even scary. Instead, we dwell on living day-to-day. This is not necessarily bad. But one can be mired in the minutiae of PD and it can negatively affect your quality of life.

Changing the focus

Last night, I watched a Gardener’s World clip about a family trying to deal with a seemingly endless medical tragedy revolving around the father and Covid. The wife and the rest of her family had found a way to get around the unrelenting daily bad news.

She called her coping mechanism, “investing today for a future payout”. Her family emphasized gardening as the father in the hospital loved gardening. Planning, buying seeds, planting, and tending to the garden became a daily activity with a happy future focus or payout.

They are anticipating their father seeing all the colors when he is released from the hospital. A very neat way to put some amount of every day towards looking forward to a future with a happy or satisfying result. It also avoids concentrating on the negative all day.

How I look forward

As I thought about what that family was doing and why they were doing it, I saw a direct connection with my Parkinson’s and the actions I take to look forward rather than focus on today’s Parkinson’s hurdles. Here are some examples:

Gardening- My wife and I are also into gardening. Planning additions and replacements in the winter months and then planting in the spring gives us a non-Parkinson’s focus. The blooms are the payoff.

Reading- Almost every day, I’m in the process of reading several books or starting a new one with the satisfaction of finishing out at least several days. A positive focus that’s non-Parkinson’s in fulfillment.

Exercising- I have committed to my friends that I’ll be with them in exercise for the future. Again, something positive with a future payout.

Planning a trip- We’re currently planning a trip to Santa Fe. Time spent now for future enjoyment.

Researching my ancestry- I spend time researching my ancestry almost every day. I’m not looking for ancestors who have Parkinson’s. Instead I’m now researching colorful ancestors to go into a book for my kids and grandkids.

I think there’s a pattern here. I spend as much of the day as I can on pursuits other than Parkinson’s. My activities are generally non-Parkinson’s in focus and represent today’s work for a future positive outcome. How about you?

Ways to think about the future

I’m willing to bet, even if you currently find yourself in a daily loop, you are already doing some things that are non-Parkinson’s in nature but they are at the bottom of your thoughts. Here are five things to try.

• Add new projects that will give you future positive outcomes
• Reverse your daily task list so non-Parkinson’s activities are more dominant in your thinking
• Crowd out your Parkinson’s day-to-day worries as much as you can and stay safe in your activities
• Commit to your friends and family to engage in new non-Parkinson’s activities
• Continue to exercise and even add exercise to your schedule

Give the concept a try and let me know how it works for you.