Friends,

Thank you for all the kind and heartfelt words about last week’s e-mail.  That was inspired by one of our friends with MS sharing how she felt with losing more of her mobility.  I really needed to hear that perpsective.  She stated she probably wasn’t the only one feeling that way and based on the feedback and comments I received, she was spot on.  Some people thought I was writing that e-mail to them.

So, as our MS gets more challenging, what else can we do to stay positive and not get so frustrated?  That’s kind of a tough question.  One of the hardest things for me to learn is that it’s impossible for other people to feel how I’m feeling.  I have these MS challenges going on in my body and in my mind.  Sometimes people think things are ok when they’re really challenging.  I’m seeing it from my challenging perspective and they “try” to be compassionate and understanding.  I have to keep in mind that it’s “impossible” for them to truly feel what I’m feeling or how I’m feeling.  It’s not right for me to expect that from them.  Does this make any sense?  People want to help, they really do.  The better I communicate how I’m feeling, the closer we can get to understanding what we can do to help each other. For me, communicating how I’m feeling is hard to do.  I just want these MS challenges to go away.

This goes both ways.  If we try to put ourselves in the shoes of a caregiver or someone that’s trying to help us and really look at it from their perspective, we may do or say things a little differently.  We also need to keep in my that it’s impossible for us to know how they’re feeling.

So, getting back to the question of what else we can do to stay positive and not get so frustrated?  We can be grateful, people really do want to help, we can allow them to help and be thankful for what they do.  I know we all want to be independent and it’s hard to accept help.  If we freely accept help when it’s available and be thankful for the help, others will find joy and feel good about helping us.  Let’s allow them to have that joy and not take it away from them by being stubborn and independent all the time.  I personally really need to work on this as it’s not easy for me to accept help.  If I keep in mind that allowing others to help brings joy to them, I can accept the help much more freely.

Another thing we can do is be a great listener.  Again, I need to personally work on this.  We don’t need to be able to move while we’re listening.  If we can practice listening on a level that we can truly see and feel the other person’s perspective, we can make a big difference in the way they feel.  We can also be kind.  What would happen if we all listened well and were kind.  How do you think our relationship with that person would be?  We experience a lot of listening and kindness with our MS Just Keep Moving family.  I’m thankful for that!

We can also accept and love unconditionally, share, smile, crack jokes, laugh, share ideas, help each other, etc. even if we can’t move.  We have so many people in our MS Just Keep Moving family that are really challenged with their MS symptoms (which is putting it mildly) that do just that.  They come and they show us how to do all that so naturally because that’s who they are.  They are showing us how to truly “Live” with their MS challenges despite the severity of them.  I’m so thankful to be a small part of all this love and understanding that’s shared.  So inspirational!

Ok, enough of that for now.  I don’t know if you saw the sunset tonight.  Many of you live in town and it’s blocked by houses.  I was looking at the clouds tonight as the sun was setting and thought I should go out take another picture of it to share with you.  Again, I took a little wooden cross out with me and set it on a fence post.  I was able to enjoy another beautiful sunset.  I just thought I would share it with you.  When we look for beauty, it’s there.

We’ll be getting together again from 9:00am – noon on Wednesday and Friday morning at the gym.  Dr Becky Thomas and her physical therapy assistance students from Bryant Stratton College will be here again on Wednesday.  I hope you’ll join us!

Wisconsin Metal Parts – Westmound Building
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186

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!

At this time, we’re 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 didn’t have to worry about it but it’s reality at this time.

One of the most important things you can do is to stay home if you have any symptoms or know you’ve been exposed to someone with the virus.  Please don’t come until your symptoms go away.  Let’s 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.  Let’s stay safe!

It looks like we’ll have fairly nice weather for our Friday morning bike ride again this week.  It might be a little cool when we start so dress accordingly.  As we get into the fall, every week we get to ride together is a bonus.  We’ll continue riding as long as the weather is 45 degrees or higher @ 7:00am and it’s not raining.  It might be 43 this Friday morning when we start and will warm up while we’re riding.  Close enough…let’s ride.  I hope you’ll join us!

We’ll be meeting Friday morning at 7:00am at Nettesheim Park in Pewaukee.  It’s 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.  We’ll 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 you’d like to ride but don’t know how you’d do it, please let me know.  We’ll do our best to figure out a way to get you riding.  We get pretty creative😊.

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.  That’s why we’re 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 Ricky’s Tai Massages each day and sign up for your time slot as soon as you get there.

Last week, our prayer group was once again…powerful!  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.  We’ll 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.  We’ll be doing it again next Tuesday.  Please join us if you can…thank you!
Inspirational Humor with Adam Wollert

Tuesdays @ 1:30PM
Here’s the link to join us…I 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:   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 haven’t talked with for a while just to see how they’re doing.  We all could use a little extra love and encouragement during these times.

MS is tough.  Let’s 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

http://msjustkeepmoving.org/