26 th of May marks 2016 World MS Day. Each year, throughout the month, all involved and affected by multiple sclerosis stand up and raise awareness through telling stories, fundraising and telling the world about this disease. This year’s theme is “independence”: living your life in spite of what MS might bring.
For the following weeks, I’ll share my view of living an independent life with multiple sclerosis, seen through the SMart Choice Lifestyle lens: how making informed choices that suit your personal conditions help you live a more healthy and independent lifestyle.
Independence is something you have to work for, even if it’s just a state of mind at first. Especially when you need to achieve a clear state of mind. Throughout the day, you have hundreds if not thousands of thoughts circling around in the brain. Most of them are only noise. They don’t bring you any value whatsoever, just constant inner-talk, most of the time criticizing and longing for a brake, a vacation or a hug.
You are a slave of your emotions, cravings, thoughts, pains, etc. To raise above all that you have to make up your mind and choose for your future self. What do you wish for? How do you want to live? How do you want to look? What do you want to achieve? It’s all connected to the mental processes that keeps you stuck.
Choosing once is not enough. Life is basically a process, a rollercoaster. Things are not fixed, they flow, they change. That’s why you need to learn to ride the wave while staying true to your main focus. Having “goals” sounds a bit harsh, artificial almost. Instead of goals, have wishes.
Having an external system in place to hold you accountable is great, but what happens if the system disappears for whatever reason? You end up suspended into thin air, and so will your wishes and plans.
The best way you can make sure you stay accountable for an indefinite amount of time is to find that system inside yourself. You are the only one responsible for your reactions, actions and results. There is only so much others around can help you with, but if you’re not willing to help yourself, it’s all done in vain.
Nothing in life comes easy or without a struggle, that’s the truth. I could sugar-coat it all you want, but it will not do you any good. The best way to get anything done and make wishes come true in life is to become accountable to your own future self.
Do the work. Design your outcome. Do whatever you can given your current circumstances. Adapt to what’s around you and to what your body can do. Start small but be consistent. Become an architect, not just a mason of your lifestyle. What do I mean by that? As an architect, you design your lifestyle structure, plan for the future and build accordingly. As a mason, you only work for today, not paying so much attention at how the pieces fit the puzzle.
We are all masons, but we need to become designers of our own future.
Patience, persistence and work are your new best friends. As the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Neither will your life. Think of it as a marathon, as an endurance race. It needs constant effort (yes, effort, I’m not gonna lie to you), but smartly dosed.
Have balance and go slow at first, little changes, little works and grow from there. Any overworking puts you at risk to giving up and settling for the mason mentality, which eventually can make you the victim of your own choices.
We are what we choose. Make informed, trained, balance-paced choices that fit into your larger lifestyle design. You really are your own best friend and your greatest help in time of need. Your conscience and heart are the direct links to God and your actions need to reflect the good parts of your personality.
Oh, there’s so much more that I want to tell you about this topic, but for now I’ll leave it here. The rest of May is enough time to go deeper into what it takes to become independent body, mind and spirit. To become the architect of your wished lifestyle. To become #strongerthanMS.
Until then, I thank you for being here. Liked this post? Share it with friends. Want to receive more articles like this right into your inbox? Add your email to the SMart Choosers list HERE. You’ll receive every new article and a monthly Newsletter of wonderful resources and insight, to help you make the smart choices that best fit your lifestyle.
Sincerely yours,
Alex
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