I enjoy listening to Joel Osteen when I’m in the car. The other day, he relayed a story about cod fish and explained the analogy as it pertains to faith in God. I couldn’t help but realize how this story also pertains to anyone with Myasthenia Gravis or any other kind of chronic illness. Let me share it with you.
Most of the cod fishing conducted in the United States occurs off the coast of New England. Fish are caught in these waters and then transported throughout the rest of the country. The unique thing about cod, however, is it’s one of the few fish that loses its flavor when frozen. Most fish, when being shipped out of the northeast will be frozen to preserve it. If you freeze cod, however, the fish doesn’t taste the same as fresh fish once it’s thawed.
To combat this, people in the fishing industry have tried several different methods of shipping, all unsuccessfully. They even tried shipping the cod live in rail cars filled with sea water but once the shipment reached its destination, the cod still lost flavor.
Someone came up with the ingenious idea to add catfish to the railroad tank cars holding the cod. Catfish are natural enemies of cod, so when added to the tanks, the cod became restless. In fact, they became so restless that they swam around the entire trip instead of just remaining in one place in the tanks. This seems to have resolved the problem because the cod shipped with the catfish retained their original flavor.
The analogy Joel Osteen was trying to make was we all have problems in our lives that serve as catfish. They agitate us and won’t allow us to rest peacefully. Joel pointed out we need catfish in order to avoid becoming complacent. It’s far too easy to just sit back and allow life to glide by without participating. If we’re truly going to accomplish anything in life, we need a few catfish to make us restless, to incite us to get going. We wouldn’t accomplish much in our lives without the irritations that encourage us to act.
Sometimes we also need catfish to encourage us to renew our relationship with God. When we’re unable to deal with problems on our own and the catfish continue to bite, turning to God may be our best solution. God is our safe place and sometimes it takes a catfish or two to remind us of that.
Myasthenia Gravis is one of the catfish in my life. It’s constantly serving as an irritation, but that irritation inspired me to write this blog. That irritation inspires me to be an ambassador for MG. That irritation makes me want to fight a little harder because I know I have more left in me. It’s not time to give up yet. It’s not time to throw in the towel. So, instead of succumbing to it, I choose to fight it. In spite of what MG tries to do to me, I am resilient enough to fight on.
Myasthenia Gravis, my catfish, has also brought me closer to God. I’ve always been close, but MG is something I wasn’t expecting. Sometimes I can’t control everything going on in my body and MG has no cure. That in itself can be hard to face on your own. Where do I go when I can’t handle something on my own? I go to God and that’s what I’ve done since being diagnosed. God is the strength I need to get through.
I’m not saying without my catfish (Myasthenia Gravis), I would just sit back and do nothing. What I am saying is MG has given me a cause to fight for. I don’t want others to have to put up with the aches, the pains, and the inconveniences MG causes me, so I try to get the word out to encourage donations for MG research and treatment advances. I try to get the word out so someone who is having symptoms will be encouraged to see a neurologist and get treatment if they’re living with MG and don’t know it. Finally, I try to get the word out to loved ones and caregivers to help me when I need help, but not to baby me. I don’t need pity and I don’t need anyone to do everything for me. I need someone who will set me straight and say, “Time to pull up the big boy pants and get going.”
Sometimes having catfish in our lives can make us uncomfortable, but isn’t that their job? Their job is to stir us up, agitate us into action, encourage us to fight, encourage us not to give up.
Even though my life would be so much easier without catfish, I’m kind of glad they’re here. Not that I enjoy having Myasthenia Gravis, it’s just without my catfish, I don’t know how many challenges I’d accept on my own. I don’t know if I’d accomplish as much as I do today.