Live well, love well, be well: Bidding my dear readers farewell

When I started this column nearly seven years ago, I thought I had a couple years of material in me at best. It’d be a fun experience writing twice a month, getting some thoughts out there into the world and hopefully helping some people in the process.

It certainly has been that — and a lot more. I’ve gotten the chance to talk about my love of attending rock concerts, my cats, and my kids. I shared my highs and my lows. I even got the chance to help people through all the long, horrible months of COVID-19, when we were all so isolated and worried about what would happen next. Any topic was on the table so long as I could make it relevant to multiple sclerosis (MS), and I took that as a personal challenge.

I love learning new things and teaching them to others. And I hope I’ve done that during my time as a columnist for BioNews, the publisher of MS News Today.

I know I’ve changed for the better in that time. I’ve become kinder and more patient with everyone, especially myself. I’ve learned how to be a better leader and to take more risks. I’ve also learned to let things go because I can’t control everything. Like author and Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom, “I have learned to hold all things loosely, so God will not have to pry them out of my hands.”

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Thank you for coming on this journey with me, for walking along the road of discovery with me as a friend and co-laborer. MS brought us together, and for that, I’m grateful. It has been an honor to share my story with you, and to hear back from many of you as you shared your own stories, heartbreaks, and triumphs.

I’m happy to report my reason for leaving is also cause for celebration. I’m moving on to a new phase of my career. I’ll be serving as my company’s director of content — a position that will require a great deal more of my creative energies and deep thinking — so I can’t commit myself to any freelance work for the foreseeable future.

I’m sorry to have to stop penning these little missives I sent floating out in bottles across the internet twice a month. But maybe one day you’ll see another one bob on by. Who knows?

Let’s raise a glass

In my long-ago first column, I opened with a quote from Howard Jones’ song “Things Can Only Get Better.” And interestingly enough, I just saw him in concert here in Atlanta a few weeks ago. (He was freaking excellent, by the way. If you have a chance to see him, go!) He sang all the classics you’d expect — “What Is Love?,” “No One Is to Blame,” “Everlasting Love,” and “Like to Get to Know You Well” among them.

He sang one song that I wasn’t expecting: “Life in One Day,” an upbeat track filled with synth and electronic drumbeats about not wishing your life away. The second verse and chorus seem a fitting benediction as this column draws to a close.

“The old man said to me

Said you can’t change the world single-handedly

Raise a glass enjoy the scenery

Pretend the water is Champagne

And fill my glass again and again

While the wolves are gathering ’round your door

Time will wear away the stone

Gets the hereditary bone

Don’t try to live your life in one day

Don’t go speed your time away.”

And so, dear readers, I raise a glass to you — Champagne or water, it hardly seems to matter. I’m off on a new adventure, and I wish you well as you continue in yours. Maybe we’ll cross paths again someday, perhaps when MS is eradicated from the face of the earth. And won’t that be glorious?

Until then, live well, love well, and be well.

Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Multiple Sclerosis News Today or its parent company, BioNews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to multiple sclerosis.