With multiple sclerosis, do you view your glass as half-full or half-empty?
For this columnist, a blend of outlooks is key
When presented with a drinking glass containing half the water it can hold, a pessimist would say that it’s half-empty while an optimist would say that the glass is half-full. A realist would probably demand to know who drank half of their water, and an idealist might simply be grateful that there was some water left and make the best of it.
I don’t think that anyone embodies just one of those personalities all the time, although I’ve met some people who make me question that theory. Others definitely seem to have a favorite, but I believe life consists of a blend of those states. I know that my life with multiple sclerosis (MS) certainly does.
MS is easy to be pessimistic about. After all, what’s to like? It’s a lifelong disease with no cure, and the symptoms are debilitating, unpredictable, and sometimes invisible. There isn’t any part of my life that MS doesn’t touch, and its touch is never gentle. While there aren’t as many as there were at the beginning, there are still plenty of moments when I look at what’s missing from my life and think that my cup is half-empty.
I suppose I could choose to feel like that all the time, but I try to balance it out with a healthy dose of optimism. I have plenty in my life that would lead me to consider my glass to be half-full. For one, I have a very supportive family, understanding friends, and a great network of others with MS that I can reach out to.
Two, there are new treatments for both the disease and its symptoms being developed all the time, so there’s a chance the future will be bright.
The first is present fact while the second is future hope. Hope is a sort of optimism, fed by idealism, and needs to be tempered with realism.
Idealism tells me that a new discovery or proposed therapy has the potential to be groundbreaking. Realism reminds me that the process takes years, from concept to reality, and is statistically more likely to fail than to succeed. I have no intention of letting go of my idealism. I’ve written before that, for most of my life, I was taught that hope is not a course of action. Well, with MS it is — as long as it’s realistic hope.
I might have considered it this way at one time, but now I don’t think that this is an either-or situation. I believe that you can be pessimistic, optimistic, idealistic, and realistic about MS. I also believe that the first three are held together and strengthened by the last one.
If you have realistic pessimism, realistic optimism, and even realistic idealism, then, in my opinion, you have achieved a healthy blend of outlooks.
I brought up these four outlooks in the first paragraph along with the well-known water glass analogy, but what about an opportunist? In that scenario, the opportunist would probably say, “While you guys were busy arguing about whether the glass was half-full or half-empty, I snuck in and drank all your water.”
I’m sure there’s a lesson about MS there, too, but I couldn’t find it. If you know one involving realistic opportunism, please share it in the comments.
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.
About the Author
Yolande Sander
A friend gave me a great ompliment the other day. He said: "Every time your glass seems half-full, you just go and re-fill it! How do you manage that?"
I do believe that a bad day is there to better prepare me for whatever MS throws at me.
Lisa Kandel
I used to be more pessimistic about my MS, but I feel extremely hopeful now. I have Jesus in my heart, and he helps me get through anything and everything. I definitely have my bad days, but he gives me hope. The good days are kind of few and far, but Jesus makes them bearable always.
Stay blessed and be a blessing!
sivan
I feel half emptiness most of time as it a disease which doesn't let us live or doesn't kill us.
ANNE
absolutely half full i am in control of my life and i am very hopeful! happiness is in not control not MS
Darien Provence
Greetings! Well, if a group of people were sitting around debating the status of a partially full glass of water. And if, in that group there was a realistic opportunist, it might be possible that he would sit there, listening to the chatter, vaguely bored because really, this is exactly the kind of discussion that never gets resolved. But if that person also became thirsty he probably would just drink the water and figure ‘Oh well, at least they now have something else to talk about that does have an answer.
I hope that came out as funny written as it was in my head. 😁
Rob M.
Not trying to be flippant here, or fill your comment section with cliches, but we must all remember things can always be worse. We all are given burdens to bear in this brief life (and it goes by fast)! Some burdens are worse than others. Faith is the foundation of any optimism I have, that, & the people I love.