Embrace Your Destiny: Be Audacious

Doing yoga on a cruise

“Ms. Lucifer, we’ve been trying to get along for twenty years. You were the audacious one during the first half of our journey. You were bold. You ruled me completely. I’ll admit that you were ever present in my mind. I didn’t like you then. Now, I feel like I have come to terms with you in the second half of our acquaintance. Now, I am being audacious in dealing with you. Don't you like this cool word, "audacious" that I learned in Toastmasters? Toastmasters stimulates my audacity. I’m definitely keeping you at bay.”

Ms. Lucifer was quick to note some setbacks. She said, “As I I recall, being audacious has gotten you into trouble. Aren’t I right? 

 

I did have some setbacks at the beach. There was the bicycle accident that messed up my shoulder. For me bicycling was audacious. I had given it up once before because of lack of strength and balance. I thought on the flat beach roads it could work, until the accident. So, it had to be eliminated. There was also the nerf ball tossing incident in the pool. That resulted in a broken finger. Most recently there were two falls in the house. That set me back half a year for sure.

Rehab from fall

“Okay Ms. Lucifer. I agree with you about the physical issues. You have continued to give me trouble when I least expect it. Still, you need to know that I work on strength, balance and the physical domain everyday. I’m not spastic all the time now and balance is improving. In addition, I think the work I’m doing in the cognitive domain is whittling away at your dominance. There is a mind to body connection, right? What do you have to say about that?”

Ms. Lucifer isn’t convinced. She says, “Can you give me some examples? I do some of my best work fogging up your mind. You are easy to distract and confuse. What makes you think you are making headway in managing me?”

“Ah-ha! Gotcha on that one. Power has shifted. You don’t own me anymore. You are a factor in my life now, but you don’t define me anymore. Let me tell you what I think is coming together to help me manage you on a daily basis.

Enjoying some carrot juice

1.    Daily hot yoga - this therapy has loosened frozen joints, strengthened weak muscles, cleared my mental fog and healed physical issues.

2.    Dietary changes strengthen my immune system, help keep me regular, and improve energy. I eat less meat and gluten and drink a vegetable juice and bone broth daily.

3.     Monthly therapies that stimulate chi flow through the chakras. I do acupuncture, massage, and chiropractic. Daily meditation is a recent addition that seems to work on multiple levels.

4.    Cognitive practice with piano being a central piece along with learning French. I also write. I do memoir and blog writing every week.

 

My motivation, Loleh

I feel good about making progress in managing my MS destiny. I work at it, but family and friends encourage me and keep me going.  I realized their power when I did the blog challenge. Comments I received from friends I worked with, friends at the beach, friends in Toastmasters and church really stimulated me. 

 

It’s these family and friends who have helped me realize that I am not defined by MS. I am what I want to be. I do what I set my mind to doing. I feel good or bad because of what I do. And, I have motivation to be strong for grandson, Loleh!