Friends,

We are enjoying our new electric door opener 

Thanks to Bill Twieg and his friends at Lincoln Contractors Supply, we have an electric door opener.

They arranged for  Automatic Entrances of Wisconsin to install it.  All you have to do is stay out of the way of the door, push the button and get through the door before it closes.  Nice…Thanks Bill and Lincoln Contractors Supply!  Everyone will be able to get in and out more indepently, efficiently and safely.  We’ve been having some fun with it too .

Is it worth it?

One common question I get asked by people with MS is “Is all this hard work of exercising worth it?”  That’s an easy question for me to answer from the way MS and exercise has treated me through the years and continues to.  I’m fortunate, my body responded positively to exercise and helped me go from barely walking to doing everything I do today.  There’s no doubt in mind, I wouldn’t have been walking for the past 23 years if I didn’t engage in daily exercise.  Even today, I can tell the difference within 3-4 days if I miss exercising a couple days.  So, for me, the answer to that question is a very clear yes, it’s worth it.

The problem is MS is different for all of us and many can’t physically engage in the aerobic exercise that studies have shown our MS likes.  So, is exercise worth it for those who can’t do what they’d like to do?  That’s a tough question for me to answer honestly because even though I have MS, my MS is different than your MS.  Sometimes it’s so mentally and emotionally hard to accept we can’t do something we’d like to do, it may not be worth it to put yourself through it for yet another disappointment.  On the other hand, what happens if we don’t at least try to do what we “can” do?

 Physically, it’s scientifically proven that our bodies like and need movement.  A sedentary body seems to come down with other illnesses and challenges; as if MS isn’t enough to deal with.  Even if you research the benefits of standing vs sitting, you’ll see that standing in a standing machine is much more beneficial than sitting for many reasons.

Studies show there are a ton of mental and emotional benefits from movement.  We see the mental and emotional benefits of exercise on a daily basis at the gym.  Even though someone might not rapidly make improvements physically; seeing and being with other people with MS helps tremendously.  We get to be around people who can truly relate to what we are going through.  We inspire and motivate each other just by being together.  It’s not fun or healthy to be isolated, especially emotionally and mentally.

Studies also show it’s much healthier mentally and emotionally when we are together as a community and have relationships with each other.  It brings great joy to me when I see all the friendships that have been built through the years of getting together.

Rick Talbert shared a Ted Talk with me about good life lessons from the longest study on happiness ( A Harvard Study).  He said it reminded him of our group at the gym.  I agree Rick!  I thought I would share it with you.  Please listen to it.  It’s only 12 minutes and 38 seconds long.  Here’s the link:

https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness

So, to get back to the question, “Is it worth it?”  I think we all need to answer that question ourselves.  For me personally, it’s not only worth it, it’s priceless…and it’s free.  Yes, it takes a lot of effort; yes, it takes consistency and I agree, it’s not easy.  I personally haven’t come across a better plan that works for me at this point.  When I add the exercise with all of us sharing our journey of living with MS and fighting this fight together; for me, it’s a hands down…yes, it’s worth it.

I’m thankful God is calling all of us together for reasons greater than our own human visions.  Let’s keep our minds open, our hearts open and allow God to work through each of us and “do” what He wants us to “do”.  We all have different God given gifts, let’s share them the way He wants us to and make the world a better place in our own little way.  It’s fun to do that .

Culvers Fund Raising Event

Please join us and encourage your family and friends to Culvers on January 18th (next Wednesday).  We have it posted on our MS-Just Keep Moving Facebook page.  It would also be helpful if you posted it on your personal Facebook page and help us promote it.  Please invite your family and friends.  Can you do that for us?  It will be awesome to see everyone in a different social environment having some fun, eating some good food and supporting a great cause just by getting together.  I hope to see you there!

Here’s some info:

https://www.culvers.com/restaurants/muskego

We are hoping the funds raised at this event will cover any expenses incurred for the indoor triathlon at Westwood April 2nd and the training leading up to it.  Let’s do our best to have some fun and make this beneficial for Culvers and for us.

Whether you’re a friend with MS or volunteer, please wear your charcoal colored T-shirt to this event.

Day of Endurance Baseline and Goals

Where are you today?

What do you hope to do in August?

Please turn your day of endurance goals and your baseline of where you are today into Traci or Shelley.  Traci and Shelley put together a white board so we can start sharing our progress on our journey.  Mike and Jerry will also be putting together some graphs of progress so we can share visually as we gather data from our progress.  Let’s get this journey started

Here’s a link to the document Jerry put together to help you get started.  Please fill this out and get it to Jerry, Mike, Traci or Shelly.

Save the dates

Some of the events we will be doing this year are as follows.  Please mark your calendars and save the dates

  • January 18th Culvers night out together
  • April 2nd  Indoor Triathlon at Westwood Health and Fitness
  • June 9th  Golf Outing Waukankee Golf Course
  • June 10th  Caregivers Retreat
  • August 5th and 6th National MS Society Best Dam Bike Ride
  • August 26th Day of Endurance
  • November 4th Open House
  • Every Wednesday and Friday morning – Get together at the gym and work out
  • Every Friday morning it’s 45 degress @ 7:00am – Friday morning bike rides

COVID

We didn’t have any new people test positive for COVID again this past week.  Yeah!  Let’s hope it stays that way.

To all who have reported their positive testing to me…thank you for letting me know and for being socially responsible and staying away until your symptoms are all cleared up.  If you do come down with it, it’s important we let people know that you have been in close contact with so they can watch for symptoms and help stop the spread.

We’ve all been dealing with COVID long enough and are very well educated on it by now.  I’m not telling you what to do but I’d highly encourage you to wear a mask again if you haven’t had it recently.  Let’s make good choices and be safe.

Please 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.  Again…let’s be socially responsible and stay safe!

Let’s get together!

We’ll be getting together again from 9:00am – noon on Wednesday and Friday mornings at the gym.  I hope you’ll join us!  If we don’t have enough volunteers, please help each other.

Wisconsin Metal Parts – Westmound Building

MS-Just Keep Moving, Inc.
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186

 

Prayer Group  We’ll be having our prayer group Wednesday @ 11:00am.

I just love the way we share, pray and laugh together while we witness prayers being answered weekly.  It’s truly amazing!

Thanks goes to God and to everyone that joins us.  Let’s get together to share, listen, talk, give thanks, and pray however God leads us.

MS Just Keep Caring – Our Caregivers support group will be the first and third Friday of each month from 10:00 – 10:30am.  The next one will be Friday, January 20th.  If you’re a caregiver of someone you love with MS, please join us and share your experience of caring for your loved one.  This has been very helpful for many.  Thanks to all who participate!

Friday Morning Bike Rides

Let’s ride indoors all winter so we can pick up where we left off next spring.  The bikes are all set up at the gym.

Our Facebook page is private.  That means you’ll need to join if you want access to all our fun and progress.  We’re now up to 335 members…awesome!   https://www.facebook.com/groups/2639832389489709

Our Facebook page is very active and fun.  Lots of people are doing more and sharing some of their journey on Facebook.  Feel free to join, post and share your experience and comments.  Thank you to all who are sharing!

There were some awesome pictures, videos and comments shared again this past week.

Thai Massage with Ricky Heldt

Ricky will be here Wednesday and Friday again this week doing Thai Massage.  Ricky says he is comfortable to work with you even if you’re not wearing a mask.  Ricky will continue to wear one to protect you.

Many continue making great progress with chronic pain relief, range of motion, walking better and a new sense of hope when Ricky works with them.  Please keep in mind that consistency is key.  Not only with Ricky…with exercise too.  We need consistency to realize the benefits long term.  We want you to have long term relief.

Ricky has a sign up sheet based on first come first serve.  You can pick the time slot that works for you.  I highly encourage you to take advantage of Ricky’s Thai Massages each day and sign up for your time slot as soon as you get there.

Reiki with Linda  Linda will be here on Fridays doing Reiki.  Many people say Linda’s Reiki work is “magical”.  We’re thankful for Linda offering her gifts and talents to us.  Feel free to let Linda know you’d like to do Reiki with her.  She also has a sign up sheet.

Inspirational Humor with Adam Wollert 

We’ll be having our inspirational humor zoom call with Adam again next Tuesday.  Adam is a gift to all of us.

Please join us if you can.

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

 

Let’s reach out

I encourage you to share a smile and encouragement with someone.  Perhaps you could call someone that you have not talked with for a while just to say hi and see how they are doing.  We all could use a little extra love and encouragement.

MS is tough.  Let us have faith, remain calm, be flexible, help each other and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day as we make good choices.

Let’s keep moving and smiling

In God We Trust…we are in good hands

Dan

http://msjustkeepmoving.org/

P.S.  This past weekend, I was by the Mississippi River near Dubuque, Iowa.  The bald eagles and their young ones are coming in to eat from the open water by the dam for the winter.

It’s fun to watch them turn and dive for fish.  I hope to get some more pictures of them this winter.  If you get a chance to go to Dubuque this winter, go by the dam.  I took this picture from the car.

I was also able to grab a couple pictures of cardinals and blue jays.  I had a little fun with the camera this past weekend.

For those of you who can’t get out and enjoy nature due your challenges with MS…my heart is with you.  You are with me every time I’m out there.  I enjoy being out there and I also enjoy sharing with you.  I know how hard it is not to be able to get out there and enjoy nature.