Even if you can’t go for a run on the beach, you can enjoy the sounds and the scenery.
iStock
Further. Faster. Higher. Longer.
Those are words that once described how I spent my hours devoted to hobby. I liked to go for long hikes in nature. Winters would find me in the backcountry with either a set of Nordic skis or custom-made snowshoes strapped to my feet (and a rucksack full of good food and wine strapped to my back).
Pre-multiple sclerosis (MS) weekends might have found me cycling or boating, landscaping, or playing an array of lawn games with friends.
It’s taken me a long time to process through the stages of grief that accompanied losing those pastimes. In many cases, I’m not sure I even knew I was processing.
How We Identify Ourselves When Stripped of Career and Hobbies
Just as many of us use our careers to identify who we are to the world, so, too, do many with their hobbies. Scratch golfers and century cyclists are part of cocktail party lexicon, right alongside board members and shop foremen. We’ve allowed ourselves to be identified by what we do, not just at work, but at play as well.
So I guess it makes sense that I felt a sense of loss at those avocations being taken from me, just as was my career.
Rather than let the world pass me by, however, I seem to have found a way to be out in it, but in a sustainable way now that I drag the MS ball and chain around wherever I go.
Nowadays a good bench — or a flat rock, sturdy stump, or fallen tree — where I can sit and be a part, even if I can’t take part, is what I’m talking about.
Simply Showing Up Is Worth a Lot
Finding a seat in the bleachers isn’t the same as jumping in on a pick-up game, but it’s still enjoyable. Plopping myself on a sand dune isn’t the same as going for a run on the beach, but I’m still breathing in the same salt air. A bench in a busy shopping center during the holidays isn’t rushing around and meeting people, but you’re never alone for long on a bench in a mall.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
To receive MS news and information via e-mail, Please Click here
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Visit our MS Learning Channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/msviewsandnews