The One Thing

I recently did a survey for a university that is doing great work with MS on the ‘one thing’ you didn’t know or weren’t told at diagnosis that you wished you were. 

After giving it careful consideration this is what I came up with: the most important piece for me was something I figured out as I went along through plenty of trial and error. And that was how to invest in myself. And I figured the best way to do that was investing in the Creator who made me. We are all built with an innate compass that desires our highest good, our highest health of body, mind and spirit, so I had already been investing there but after diagnosis, doubled my efforts in getting to know God to get to know myself better. 

With that as a foundation, I could better discern what to override and when to trust that still small voice. Of course I did all kinds of research at the beginning on what was out there, what other schools of thought were doing – and that in itself can be so overwhelming – – endless data of suggested approaches, diets, lifestyles, exercises, meditations, medications, vitamins, etc. But instead of getting tangled up and putting eggs in so many different directions, I kept coming back to God trusting he would navigate me through the maze of all the zillion other decisions. 

Many of the mainstream elements are important and not to be discounted at all but rather I weighed them against my own character and what was right for this body, mind and soul, not being afraid to go against the grain if I had to. I didn’t get it right right off the bat, and made plenty off-road turns. But I kept at it and ended up cobbling together a very workable way of living with MS that very ironically aligned very closely with the OMS program – Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis – a world renowned (and gaining momentum) approach of living hope with the diagnosis.

So dear reader, that’s the one thing I wished was better emphasized at the beginning was to invest in the Creator who invested in me (you).

Because you’re totally worth it.