Fighting Parkinson’s, and recovering for you

Recently, a couple of people have expressed to me how fortunate I was to have Sally with me on my journey to full recovery from Parkinson’s. When I expressed that I agreed, and it was a blessing beyond comprehension to have her by my side while fighting the disease, they each said that is not what they had meant. They told me what they had meant was having somebody in their lives for whom they wanted to get better. I told them that the somebody in their lives for whom they needed to get better was themselves. This realization was critical in my ability to defeat Parkinson’s.

In the beginning of my recovery, I had a difficult time coming to grips with my new physical limitations, and I felt badly about myself. Each morning as my Parkinson’s self was trying to talk me out of doing the Recipe for Recovery, I would win the argument by saying to myself, “It is not fair to Sally and our children. This is not the life with you they signed up for.” And then I would do the Recipe…for them…I owed it to them.

Also, with my new physical limitations, there were things around the house that I no longer could do, and Sally and our children picked up the slack. Initially, this made me feel even worse about myself than I already felt, if that was even possible. I did not feel worthy of the love they were expressing for me. Clearly, I did not love myself…at that point, I barely liked myself.

What was a turning point regarding this issue was one day when I realized I needed to get better for me. That’s right, I needed to get better for me, and getting better for me was not selfish. It was required!

I realized it was not enough to want to get better just for them. I was blessed as the lesson appeared right in front of my eyes – I needed to like myself enough and love myself enough to want to get better for me…yes, for Sally and our children, too, but for me first.

If I had been able to get better only for them, then I would not really be recovered because I would still be suffering from all of the things that helped me get the disease in the first place, which included changing the essence of who I was so I would be accepted or liked or loved by other people. And, throughout my life, that changing of the essence of who I was to make other people happy occurred again and again because it was my perception that it was how I would continue to be like and loved and accepted…even if it caused me to suffer.

I learned that once I loved myself enough to want to get better for me, I would be filled with so many blessings that I never again would have to worry about being loved or accepted by other people because it would just happen…and if it did not happen…”Okay!” I accepted that, too. The old me would be gone, and the new me, my true essence of me, would exude love and happiness and I would be devoid of worries and fear. And with this understanding, I realized it did not matter who liked me or loved me or accepted me, because as long as I stayed true to the essence of who I was, I would be happy. And happy I am!

It helped push me over the top. And, it can help push you over the top, too. Moreover, it is not selfish – when you think of all of the people who will be inspired by your recovery, there is no way anybody could say curing yourself of Parkinson’s is selfish; no indeed, it is the ultimate blessing.

So, what are you waiting for? Give yourself a hug filled with love, and get recovered for you!

You are worth it!!!

All my best,

Howard