Friends,

When I drove in the parking lot last week, I saw a car that brought a smile to my face. I learned that itā€™s Connieā€™s car as sheā€™s sharing her ā€œAdventureā€ of living with MS. It sure is and adventure, isnā€™t it? Thanks for sharing your adventure Connie! Welcome to our MS-Just Keep Moving family.

When I walked in the door, it was like a party. It was awesome to see Joe back on the total body bike and Bill back helping him. Made me smile again šŸ˜Š Nice job Joe and welcome back Bill! Youā€™re looking good too Jean!

Then I look over at Pam and Todd. Theyā€™re riding together on a tandem in New York through the Zwift technology. Itā€™s amazing how fun we can make exercise and where we can enjoy it through technology. Thatā€™s fun isnā€™t it Mike?

I think Pam was working a lot harder than Todd šŸ˜Š Fun!

I received an e-mail from Rick about his experience scuba diving last week. Who would have thought Rick would be scuba diving? Perhaps youā€™d like to do this too! Hereā€™s a message form Rick sharing his experience:

I had an awesome experience Saturday morning at Marquette with the Diveheart organization. They provide scuba experiences for people with disabilities. I’ve had some past scuba experiences but that is not necessary. They will train you if that is required. Here is their website: diveheart.org

This organization is based in Illinois and they make the trip up to Marquette monthly until summer. In summer they do monthly picnic gatherings at local lakes. There is no cost and they provide all the equipment! On Saturday the ratio of volunteer trainers to students was 2 to1. They will go out of their way to accommodate any needs you may have. I was one of four who participated Saturday and the only one not in a wheelchair. The group is a lot of fun. When we were done, we all went to Sobelmans for lunch.

The next opportunity to participate is scheduled for February 15.

Looks like a fun group! Thanks Tina, for making this possible!

Letā€™s share! A few weeks back Suzanne asked if we could start a sharing group. This would be a group that we share gadgets, ideas and experiences of things that have helped us living with MS. Letā€™s get together Friday @ 11:30 in the lunch room and see what kind of ideas we can share. Living with MS is challenging. Perhaps we can make it a little easier for some by sharing.

Iā€™d highly recommend you sign up the MS Bike ride August 1st and 2nd. You can do that by clicking here. Once you sign up, thereā€™s a motivational factor that kicks in and helps us get prepared for it. We want you on our teamā€¦we have fun!

Weā€™ll be getting together again Wednesday @ 11:30 for our prayer group. Weā€™ll be giving thanks to God for our blessings and praying however God leads us. Wow! Iā€™m hearing some powerful comments about this time together. Prayers are being answered weeklyā€¦thank you God! Feel free to join us. If you need to come in a little early to get your exercise in before this starts, feel free to do so.

Letā€™s ā€œJust Keep Movingā€ again in 2020. It doesnā€™t matter where we start. We can all start with laughing which is great exercise in itself. Other than that, we start with the body parts that will move and keep moving them as much as we can. Let them rest and then move them again.

I know there are still many of us going through other life challenges in addition to our challenges with MS. Letā€™s stick together, keep our chins up and keep sharing our journey. Better days are ahead. For those of you who havenā€™t been able to make it by us on Wednesdays and Fridays lately, please know you are missed and in my thoughts and prayers. I hope youā€™re able to make it back soon!

I hope youā€™ll join us both Wednesday and Friday again this week. Rememberā€¦consistency is key. With MS, it takes a lot of consistent effort every day to make small improvements. Yes, itā€™s frustrating so be patient and consistent and youā€™ll be amazed how your quality of life will continue to improve. Itā€™s been about 17 years of exercising just about every day for me and Iā€™m still making improvements (encouragement, love, support, nutrition and proper rest help immensely too). It takes time so please be patient. It sure is better than MS getting worse. I really donā€™t know what my life would be like if I didnā€™t do this (nor do I want to find out). Iā€™m so thankful you are all joining me on this journey of making progress with our MS and quality of lifeā€¦THANK YOU! Weā€™ll continue to learn togetherā€¦thereā€™s so much power in the love and support we all share with each other.

In the past, Iā€™ve been telling you to bring a friend. Unfortunately, weā€™re going to need to start a waiting list for new people. Please feel free to continue to share your experience and what weā€™re doing together. Let me know of anyone who would like to join us. Iā€™ll communicate with these people through e-mail or phone and help them any way I can. When we have room for them to join us, Iā€™ll encourage them to do that. If youā€™ve joined us in the past, please continue to join us.

We are here to help you and anyone with MSā€¦no strings attached (well maybe an occasional story about the progress youā€™re making, smile, high five or a hug). I remember how challenging life used to be when my MS was bad. I get great joy sharing what Iā€™ve learned and feel blessed with the progress Iā€™ve made. I hope you make progress in some way too!