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Today we start with a short vignette on dandelions from Anthony de Mello’s book “The Song of the Bird, followed by a sharing by Michael J Fox and how he works with having Parkinson’s.
I don’t look at life as a battle or as a fight. I don’t think I’m scrappy. I’m accepting. I say “living with” or “working through” Parkinson’s. Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation — it means understanding that something is what it is and that there’s got to be a way through it. I look at it like I am a fluid that’s finding the fissures and cracks and flowing through.
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Optimism is really rooted in gratitude. Optimism is sustainable when you keep coming back to gratitude, and what follows from there is acceptance. Acceptance that this thing has happened, and you accept it for what it is. It doesn’t mean you can’t endeavor to change. It doesn’t mean you have to accept is a punishment or penance, but just put it in its proper place. Then see how much the rest of your life you have to thrive in, and then you can move on.
Michael J Fox