Facing Life’s Challenges - How Determined Are You?
If you were suddenly struck with a serious health challenge, how would you react? Those of us in our boomer years may already know the answer to that. Are you suffering from a condition that is altering your life? Are you accepting it, giving up or giving in? Or are you determined to do whatever it takes to overcome what you are facing? Not many of us are as determined as Patrick Finney, a man diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1998, yet has now gone on to run a marathon in all 50 United States.
In yesterday’s edition of the Fort Worth Star Telegram there was a story about Patrick, a man who refused to give up and who taught himself to walk again, not once but nine times, as he continued to have relapses over the six years after his diagnosis.
When Patrick Finney was first diagnosed with MS in 1998, his doctor told him not to exert himself. He was so weak, he couldn’t walk a step or keep his balance but he decided not to listen to the doctor. He came up with a plan of diet and exercise. His first goal was just to run a half marathon and he joined a training program, struggling whenever there was a set back.
In 2010, Patrick vowed to run a marathon in all 50 states by the time he was fifty and he has reached that goal this year. What became more important to him over time however, was showing others that nothing is impossible.
By the time we reach our 50s and 60s, and sometimes even before that, we face a health crisis of some sort. It might even be a condition that doesn’t debilitate us, but is still hampering our lives and well-being. When and if that happens, we have to decide how we will face it.
I’ve always been a proactive person when it comes to my health. Give me a condition and I will try and “fix” it, doing whatever I can to improve it. When I read Patrick’s story though, it was at a time when I was feeling very discouraged that all my efforts to improve one particular health challenge just never seemed to be getting anywhere, no matter what I have been doing. I know I am very lucky in that my condition isn’t debilitating so far but lack of any sort of improvement is just depressing sometimes.
When I read about someone like Patrick, who didn’t give up and overcame the odds, it makes me want to keep trying at any rate and not give up either.
Have you ever faced a serious health crisis or condition? How did you handle it and what, if any changes did it bring to your life?
I’ve had many positive changes in my life because I’ve been trying to improve my health. I took up yoga and tai chi and I’m very careful about diet and keeping stress down.
When a health crisis strikes, of course, we have the option of just doing whatever the doctor says, popping a pill if it’s offered and then going on our way, living as normal a life as is possible. Still, there are usually other things we can do to help ourselves if we choose to.
If you’d like to read Patrick Finney’s story, it can be found here in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I hope you’ll find it as inspirational as I did.
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In one week, I went from a jog-three-miles-a-day, kayaking, mountain-biking, weight-lifting vegan 60-year old to one who had to hold onto walls to walk, as I’ve probably mentioned in other comments. I’m 62 now. Like you, I’ve always tried to fix whatever health challenges I had, and had been successful before being hit with rheumatoid autoimmune disorder. Until then, I had taken no medications. This is serious and can do serious unseen damage to the cardiovascular system, lungs, bones and other organ systems, so I agreed to disease-modifying drugs. Obviously my life but also my dreams about myself as I aged had to be altered. I also discovered Toni Bernhard’s HOW TO BE SICK, as I also might have already mentioned in previous comments. Sorry to be repeating myself, if so. That book turned around my negative thinking. This is my life and this is how it (aging, illness, whatever word you want to substitute) is happening to me. It happens to all of us. I can’t spend time jogging. I so miss working out so hard that I get sweaty and my heart is racing, but I can do some exercise some days and others, I get to catch up on all those award-winning foreign films I’ve always wanted to watch. I’m attempting to revive my fiction-writing career now that I’ve had to cut back on other work. I don’t want to sound simplistic and disgustingly upbeat because I have had to grieve. I do each time a new adjustment must be made. However, I just repeat some of the exercises in the book, such a Bernhard’s suggestion to treat “thoughts and moods as wind, blowing into the mind and blowing out” (30). The grief arrives and then it blows away, and I’m ready to look at the positives again. The last three days have been painful and sad, but today, I rode a stationary bike for 14 minutes! Yippee.
What an inspiring story. It will help me bounce out of bed rather than thinking about my aches and pains.
Rita blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide
Thanks for writing, Linda and Rita.
Linda, Unfortunately I am familiar with the damage rheumatoid arthritis can do. My daughter’s boyfriend’s mom died of complications from it and she was only about 50. I agree that taking drugs which will slow a diseases progress is important. I’ve been talking to this guy about being tested for it. I’ve read that if you start the medications early then the damage doesn’t occur or is minimized to the joints.
I applaud you for being more positive. No matter what our circumstances, I know it helps. Did you by any chance see Dr. Oz’s show with Montel Williams? He has MS and has created a health plan which reversed his symptoms. I’m going to look up information and write about it in a future post.
Rita, glad you found the story inspiring! Many of us don’t realize how lucky we are until we read stories like Patrick’s and Linda’s. Also, you have a very nice blog! I encourage my readers to visit.
What an amazingly inspirational story! I hope I can maintain such strength as I grow older. I find that yoga is a wonderful workout. I’ve previously done hot yoga classes and the ages of the students varied. Honestly the women older than me were much more flexible than I am and better at yoga. Although I haven’t met much health adversaries, I have personal obstacles to overcome and feel inspired reading Patrick’s story. Thank you for sharing. I hope I can be just as strong mentally and physically.
Thanks so much for your comment, Cristy. Sometimes our obstacles aren’t just about our health. No matter what our age, we encounter challenges, which are really opportunities to grow.
PS Love your Etsy Shop-Really cute!
A high level of positiveness combined with a great deal of determination can help us see challenges in a different light, rather to see it as an obstacle, make it an inspiration to strive and overcome the problems we have in life
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