Fight the Good Fight

I’ve recently viewed some of the interviews and podcasts of a well-known actress who has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). First off, let me just say that my thoughts and prayers go out to her. MS is a difficult disease and can be very disabling. When we hear about celebrities affected by MS like Christina Applegate, Selma Blair, Montel Williams, and others, or we see people like Michael J. Fox with Parkinson’s or the late Eric Dane who recently succumbed to ALS, we see quickly that autoimmune diseases do not discriminate. They can hit anybody at anytime.

While the MS diagnosis must have been devastating for this actress and the way it has affected her difficult, I believe she must focus on things she can do to help herself not only cope, but thrive.

There are a couple of things this actress has said that don’t sit right with me. While my heart goes out to her and I agree with most everything she discusses, I don’t necessarily agree with her hesitancy to discuss “fight”. For example, she often discusses how MS has forced reflection, some self-understanding, and forgiveness. I agree with that. Any medical condition requires us to do these things to some extent. What I disagree with is her description of living with a feeling of being “trapped in this darkness”. If this is indeed how she feels, I pray God sends her peace and hope she is getting help and support from professionals and loved ones. Her body may be trapped, but her mind and heart are not. She gets to choose where her heart and mind are focused.

In her interviews, she says she refuses to sugarcoat things. I can understand that. Honesty is almost always the best policy, unless of course someone asks you, “Am I starting to look (insert touchy adjective here)?” Sometimes a little sugarcoating can be a good thing.

I find for myself, that sometimes I need to look at the positive side of things, maybe even sugarcoat a little, to prevent myself from falling into that feeling of becoming trapped.

Before I go any further, let me just say that I am in no way comparing what I’m experiencing with Myasthenia Gravis (MG) to what someone with MS is experiencing. I completely understand MS can cause much more disability than MG. I’m just saying there are both a physical side and a mental (emotional) side to these diseases. We may not be able to do much about the physical side, but we can choose how we allow it to affect our emotional side.

When I find myself starting to become depressed, I rely on a little sugarcoating to help me through. I think about how blessed I really am in life and how God has showered me with abundance. I think about how I can sleep in a nice warm bed and how nice it is to get up in the morning. I may have aches and pains, I may even have days when getting out of bed is tough, but I’m still alive and I can still feel God’s love and the love of everyone who cares about me. That helps me to refocus my attention from the negative towards the positive. That’s what helps pull me out of a depression.

No matter how bad I deem my life to be at any given moment, there are people who are experiencing worse. No matter how much pain I have, there are people who are suffering more. No matter how difficult I think my life may be, there are people who have it more difficult. Those aren’t reasons to gloat; they are reasons to be thankful. Sometimes this realization is needed to put life into perspective.

I hope when you read this you don’t get the impression that I’m trying to put this actress down or disrespecting her in any way, shape, or form. I’m not. I have the utmost respect for her. I’ve actually added her to my prayer list, not because she has MS, but because she wants and needs peace in her life. Peace comes from belief in God and refusing to allow yourself to be pulled into any black holes. I know she knows this and I have confidence she will pull herself through.

I use her example because all of us struggle at times. We all don’t have the strength and fortitude of Michael J. Fox who has continued to be a champion for Parkinson’s Disease in spite of his limitations. We all fall subject to depression. Michael J. Fox will admit to this, as well. We just can’t allow ourselves to stay there.

When I see a black hole approaching, prayer is my first line of defense. I follow that up with a little sugarcoating by forcing myself to realize how privileged and lucky I truly am.

MG, just like MS, currently has no cure, but that doesn’t mean we must let it win. Sometimes the proper thing to do is fight the good fight.