I believe that when doing something you should do it to the best of your ability. For me, I have always striven to be the best I can be, sometimes without knowing what that meant. At times I would over estimate my abilities, at others I would underestimate them. But I would always try.
With every year that passes by I have certain things I have to leave behind – that’s part of growing. And then sometimes life interjects with its own burdens for us to carry. For some it’s a death of a loved one, for others it’s a loss of a job, or it could be a physical illness or simply time wearing down the body. Given enough time each of us will have some kind of burden to carry. My most recent larger scale burden is my MS. So, if I still look to be the best I can be but now have limitations what do I do from here?
As I mentioned in the About Get to It! section one thing I have learned is that you don’t have to be perfect to try something, you just have to try. Before my MS I used to swing dance. Though I wasn’t great at it I was still more confident than I am now. I haven’t really danced since my diagnosis but tomorrow night I am going to try. I don’t know what my legs are going to do. There’s a great chance my legs won’t be able to keep up with the music and I may knock some people down but I am going to try nonetheless.
It’s all about doing what you can, how you can, while you can. I don’t know what may happen in the future. My legs may stay the same, they may get worse. But while I can I’m still going to dance, to run, to play volleyball, to trek in the Himalayas, to live. I will say yes until my body says nope (and even then I will try). Below are some things I am doing to keep me on track. Remember, you don’t have to be great, just simply do what you can, how you can, while you can.
Set Goals
Goals can be large and small. It could be reading 10 pages of a book a day or scaling the face of a cliff. Whatever you do goal setting helps keep you moving forward. A goal for me is to take my mom to Ireland for a week. We have been in talks about it for a couple of years and we are now starting to plan for it. Because of time and budgets we may not go until 2017 but it’s a goal that we will continue to move forward toward.
Pursue Better
It’s always a positive to be content but don’t ever be complacent with who you are. You can always learn more, do more, be more, help more, give more, talk more, laugh more, enjoy more. Always pursue a better you.
Take Pride
This is something we are not taught to do anymore. For instance, I met a younger guy a few years ago who was about 19 or 20. He was excited to be a cook at a local restaurant. He would talk about the food coming in every day, about the “behind-the-scenes” prep work – all very passionately. I love that, I love how he took pride in what he did. Some may think it’s ridiculous, that he’s just a line cook. Well, those people are ridiculous and nobody is just anything. We should all aspire to be like him, to take pride in what we do.
Enjoy the Journey
This is one we hear a lot about but rarely do. I know for myself I have many things on my bucket list. Too many to fit in one lifetime. There’s a good chance I won’t get to even a fifth of them. But as I set out to accomplish each one I am purposeful to enjoy it while I do it. It’s not about completing the list before I die but it’s about attempting each item as I come to them and enjoying the journey as I try.
Attempt it. Chance it. Try it. Get to It!