challenges

Reclaiming Our Power When We Feel Powerless

I donā€™t know about you all, but when I first learned I had multiple sclerosis, I felt utterly powerless. Weak. Beaten down. Cornered. Cowed. Yes, I experienced all of these negative feelings (and a hundred more besides) in the first year or two after my diagnosis. But after time, I…

Sailing Beyond Fear With SPMS

I grew up sailing the San Francisco Bay. My summers were spent in sailing school. My fatherā€™s daughter, I loved being on the water. There was no place more peaceful or exhilarating. That serenity turned to turbulence one cold and foggy day. While speeding downwind, our boat broached. The…

Hair We Go Again

I can’t quite remember when I got hooked on the writings of Jack London, but I don’t think I’ve ever quite shaken off his Nietzschean-inspired “Superman” ethos. It comes in handy for surviving in the wilds of the winter in the Yukon and forcing yourself to build a…

Every Day Is Like a Box of Chocolates

Each morning, I’m confronted by an adaptation of the conundrum faced by Forest Gump’s mother: “Life [is] like a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re gonna get.” If I can’t get myself out of bed, it’s going to be a bad one. I may be in…

Getting Out, Despite the Crowds

Last week, my husband and I attended an outdoor concert in a small venue that we used to regularly attend just a few years ago, before my MS affected my mobility. Our last concert there was two years ago, and although IĀ was skeptical about going, the weather was perfect,Ā and…

Anyone for Golf?

A family wedding in the gardens of a grand country house some 30 minutes from Oxford sounds idyllic. And indeed it was. Not, though, for anyone in a wheelchair. A deep pebble driveway at the front was impassable.Ā It took very strong men to drag me backwardĀ a few yards. Going…

Running (Wheeling) on Empty

Arguments over nothing and everything are, in my experience, induced by extreme stress. When my wife and I were at full bore working together, this often happened. Not at work ā€” there wasn’t time ā€” and we were professional. Domestically, what little downtime we had would often be spent…

This Too Shall Pass

I posted this meme on social media last weekĀ with the caption ā€œCurrent Life Status,ā€ hoping a laugh might help matters. Iā€™m sorry to say things didn’tĀ improve afterward. Iā€™m not a Debbie Downer or a Sad Sack by nature, and I donā€™t often write about my struggles here…

Happy is the Woman

  And do you feel scared? I do, but I won’t stop and falter. And if we threw it all away, things can only get better ā€“ Howard Jones, ā€œThings Can Only Get Betterā€ Things Iā€™m good at include (but are not limited…