by Jane Green
Special to the Farm Forum
Sometimes life gets so tough, you wonder what else can go wrong? And then the bottom falls out on you and all you can do is stand there and laugh at yourself. I guess laughing is better than crying and the story goes like this.
Frustration to the max
I really didn’t realize what a great and unencumbered life I had led until full-blown Parkinson’s disease invaded my life two years ago. Parkinson’s disease has caused me to do a 180 degree turn in living. It’s taught me so many things, but most of all it has taught me humility and to laugh at myself.
For example, there I was getting dressed the other morning and my fingers wouldn’t work. They were useless or so it seemed. It was an “off” time for my medicine. Try as I might, I could not button my blouse and there was someone knocking at the front door. What to do?
Should I go and answer the door without a shirt on? Never. I couldn’t help but laugh at that thought. Instead of wearing a shirt, I opted for a pull-over sweatshirt. Problem solved, but I’m sure the young fellow wondered why I was laughing as I opened the door.
Another frustration has been my speech. As a long time teacher, talking came easily to me. Not anymore. My speech is much softer and much lower now, in fact, I kind of mumble. No longer can I out talk and out shout anyone. My former students would be amazed, but I have had to adapt to the situation in several ways.
I try to phone people in the morning when my voice is stronger. I even sometimes think that God is having some fun with my poorer speaking abilities and teaching me a thing or two. Because now, I do a whole lot more listening, and I do believe I am also learning a great deal more from others. Ha!
PD is indeed a frustrating disease. Sometimes you can do things and sometimes you can’t. You just have to learn to live with it and time your activities. So, timing of my medication has become very important to me. If I don’t time my pills correctly, well then, I just have to try and work through the activity and sometimes the bottom falls out. Oh, my goodness!
The bottom falls out
Whoever heard of having to time taking a shower and washing one’s hair? Well, guess who? I do time my shower time, but more importantly, I time washing and fixing my hair.
I keep my hair cut short so I can style it with the blow dryer. But, if I run out of “on” time with my medication and can’t handle the blow dryer effectively, my hair looks like the “Wreck of the Hesperus.”
It’s at times like this that I feel as though the bottom has fallen out. Maybe I should say that I used to feel that way. Pride goeth before the fall. Right?
I have had to change my way of thinking about my hair. It doesn’t have to be perfectly combed. Life is not perfect. I am not perfect, so why do I think I have to do everything perfectly?
Reflections
So, instead of feeling depressed about my hair and all the other things that I can’t do perfectly anymore, PD has taught me to just laugh at myself and repeat the words: “Hang in there! God’s got this.”
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)
http://www.farmforum.net/2017/06/19/hang-in-there/
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