“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” Christopher Reeve

I absolutely love Saturday mornings.  I love everything about it, the slower pace, a quiet house, the smell of breakfast and the sound of birds chirping. It’s as if nature also understands that it’s Saturday morning or, I am just slowing down enough to notice all of it’s beauty.   There’s a particular bird that chirps and I swear is singing just to me—a Silvia melody of sorts that just makes me smile every time I hear him.

One of the things I noticed on this particular Saturday is my small basil plant.  We took it outside because it was not flourishing inside the house.  At this point it was gone—at the point of no recovery—not a single leaf was alive.

Hope was gone and I needed to throw it out and let go.

The next day I went to get a few things to throw out and noticed that our dead plant had a tiny green leaf trying it’s hardest to breakthrough.  It caught my attention— I couldn’t possibly throw it out now.  I decided to clean all the dead leaves and leave it alone to see what will happen—give it a chance to thrive.

It’s been a couple of weeks now and that one stem is still going strong—it continues to fight and push through.  This reminds me of Miguel with MS.  There are days where we both lose hope. There are days where the falls are many, the strength is barely there and his emotional strength is non-existent.  The energy it takes to take a shower sometimes overwhelms him and he needs my help.

But, after the tough days, the hopeless days, there are good days.  Days when he can walk lapse around the house with his walker.  Days where joy is visible in his whole entire body.  Days when hope has been resurrected and both his emotional and physical bank has been replenished—and if I’m honest, mine is too.

My friends, don’t allow this illness or any other illness to take away your hope.  Acknowledge the tough days, give yourself the space you need to replenish and then enjoy the days that you can do what brings you joy.  Here are some tips that help me:

·         Acknowledge your feelings

·         Try to find alone time

·         Do something that brings YOU joy

·         Take deep breaths

·         Enjoy your favorite drink or snack

·         Shift your focus away from your situation and onto something that fills you with hope

·         Be okay with what you are able to do TODAY—say good bye to guilt!

Until next time!

In sickness and in health,

Silvia