Friends,
Iâm not quite as tired this week so youâll get a little longer e-mail from me. Thanks for allowing me to write to you each week. Writing is good therapy for me. It allows me time to reflect on the joys and blessings in my life. You are one of them.
As you know, MS-Just Keep Moving is a sharing community. We learn, we accept, we do, we make progress, we share. I get to see and hear all kinds of stories of people with MS making progress. Unfortunately, I have MS (I can use that in this case) and I canât always remember the details of your progress accurately enough to write about it and share it. Perhaps you could help me. If youâre making progress in any way, perhaps you could send me an e-mail and share it with me so I can share it in my upcoming e-mails. Iâd love to hear from you.
This morning, I had a morning worth sharing. As most of you know, I try to exercise from 1-2 hours every morning. For me, I like riding bike in the spring, summer and fall. Exercise has helped me and my challenges living with MS for the past 20+ years now. It is sustainable. Thereâs absolutely no doubt in my mind that if Iâd back off of exercising, my MS would be worse within a matter of days or weeks. Thatâs just how challenging MS is with me. Keep in mind thereâs been a time in my life when I couldnât feed myself, tie my shoes, button my buttons or walk. OopsâŚsorry! I was going to share a little about my morning and I got off track talking about my challenges of living with MSâŚgrrr, donât get me started.
To get back on track, I left my house this morning at 6:00am. For those of you who are still in bed at 6:00, the sun is just starting to come up. Itâs a beautiful time of the morning to ride bike. The traffic usually isnât too bad either. I decided to mix it up this morning and ride my Elliptigo. I was riding on the road between Pewaukee and Hartland. The sun was lighting the road and tress ahead of beautifully. I was just thanking God for this morning and being out there.
For some reason, I looked back. As I looked back, I saw the sun rising. I thought whoah! Thatâs nice! I just had to stop and take a picture. Unfortunately all I had with me was my cell phone and it didnât quite do it justice.
It still looks pretty nice. I just thought I would share it with you. It was a beautiful rideâŚIâm so thankful to be able to be out there. For those of you who canât walk, ride bike or even feed yourself; please know that you are on these rides with me as I talk to God, listen to Him and ask for help as we live with our challenges of MS. We need to continue to have faith that we are not alone even though it feels like we are sometimes.
Do you want to what to know whatâs amazing? At least to me, itâs amazing. The people that show up for our Friday morning bike rides at 7:00amâŚall spring, summer and fall. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be riding bikes with people that are challenged with MS every Friday morning for 7 or 8 years now. When I look at each person now compared to where they were when they first started riding, it just blows my mind. Thank you for joining us!
Last week we had another awesome Friday morning ride. We got to start out in a little fog which made for a beautiful ride. Lots of trikes! Where are all the two wheel bikes? The spirit on these rides is amazing. We have fun!
Who would have thought Sarah, Adam and Shaun would be having so much fun riding together?
Weâll be getting together again from 9:00am â noon on Wednesday and Friday morning at the gym. I hope youâll join us!
Wisconsin Metal Parts â Westmound Building
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186
We might be light on volunteers again this week so if you could help or know someone that could help, please join us. If you have MS and are able to help someone else with MS, please do so. People helping peopleâŚI love it!
We realize the virus is not gone yet. In fact, the numbers are very concerning again. Many of us have either had COVID or have been vaccinated or both. With the numbers going up, we have more people wearing masks again. Thank you for doing that!
Weâre leaving wearing a mask up to you to make good decisions. If you have concerns, please wear a mask. Either way, please be respectful. Thank you for being so understanding, cooperative and respectful through this entire pandemic. I wish we didnât have to worry about it but itâs reality at this time.
One of the most important things you can do is to stay home if you have any symptoms or know youâve been exposed to someone with the virus. Please donât come until your symptoms go away. Letâs also give each other some space when talking to one another and continue wiping the machines down before and after you use them with disinfectant. Letâs stay safe!
Thereâs a good chance of rain for our Friday morning bike ride this week. If itâs raining, we will not be riding. If itâs not raining, we will be riding. I hope youâll join us. Letâs start recruiting and training for next yearâs MS Bike ride. Itâs good to put an event on the calendar and work towards it. Itâs also important to enjoy the journey of training and getting to the start line.
Weâll be meeting Friday morning at 7:00am at Nettesheim Park in Pewaukee. Itâs on the SE corner of Hwy SS and Oak Street. The GPS address is: N26W27495 Prospect Ave, Pewaukee, WI 53072. Come a little early so you can get your bike out of your car and be ready to ride as close to 7:00 as possible. Weâll ride until about 8:45.
If you need me to bring a trike or a tandem for you, please let me know and I will bring them.
If youâd like to ride but donât know how youâd do it, please let me know. Weâll do our best to figure out a way to get you riding. We get pretty creativeđ.
Ricky Heldt will be here on Wednesday and Friday again this week doing Tai Massage. Many of you have reported making great progress with chronic pain relief, range of motion, walking better and a new sense of hope when Ricky does his magic to you. Please keep in mind that consistency is key. We need consistency to realize the benefits long term. Thatâs why weâre having Ricky here both Wednesday and Friday mornings. We want you to have long term relief. Ricky will have a sign up sheet based on first come first served. You can pick the time slot that works for you. I highly encourage you to take advantage of Rickyâs Tai Massages each day and sign up for your time slot as soon as you get there.
Last week, our prayer group was once againâŚpowerful! I just love the way we share, pray together and witness prayers being answered weekly. Thanks goes to God and to everyone that joins us.
Our prayer group will be in person at the gym as well as on zoom this week at 11:00am on Wednesday. Weâll get together and share, talk, listen, give thanks and pray however God leads us.
MS – Just Keep Moving Prayer Group
Wednesdays @ 11:00am
Join Zoom Meeting with this link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82689557013?pwd=NzNEL0ExYkpSdnE5RllCQXlJeVo1UT09
Meeting ID: 826 8955 7013
Passcode: keepmoving
We had a fun call with Adam again this afternoon on his inspirational zoom call. Weâll be doing it again next Tuesday. Please join us if you canâŚthank you!
Inspirational Humor with Adam Wollert
Tuesdays @ 1:30PM
Hereâs the link to join usâŚI hope you do!
Join Zoom Meeting with this link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9431389152?pwd=bWlYbFNaazVnM1M1cWxWMitlODdXUT09
Meeting ID: 943 138 9152
Passcode: 3qP2hu
Phone:Â Â 1-312-626-6799
Meeting ID: 943 138 9152
I encourage you to share a smile with someone. Perhaps you could give someone a call that you havenât talked with for a while just to see how theyâre doing. We all could use a little extra love and encouragement during these times.
MS is tough. Letâs stay calm, focused, healthy, flexible, have faith and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day as we make good choices. Better days are ahead.
In God We Trust!
Dan