I’ve been finding living with Parkinson’s particularly challenging for several months now. The constant up and down of my medication cycle with dyskinesia thrown in, always feeling exhausted, disturbed sleep, anxiety, apathy, other symptoms and even just remembering which of my tablets to take when – sometimes just feels overwhelming on top of other life challenges. If I am honest, I’ve probably been feeling a bit sorry for myself lately. And I have found it difficult to be positive and focus on the things I am grateful for.
However, I am very grateful for my friends. Some of whom I haven’t seen in a while, but I’ve been catching up with some of them recently – with a few more catch ups planned over the next few weeks. It’s reminded me that I am truly blessed to have several brilliant, caring, empathetic and true friends. All of whom help me and support me in different ways – including listening to me, making me laugh, crying with me, distracting me and sharing their problems with me. Most of all, just knowing that when we do meet – even if it’s been a while in some cases – we’re still at ease with each other with no awkwardness. That’s the beauty of such friendships that I am grateful to have.
Many of my friends have their own life challenges to deal with (from bereavements, and health issues to looking after elderly parents and/or children and more) and I am inspired by the way they deal with them with so much grace, resilience and inner strength. I feel blessed to have such amazing people as my friends.
Living with Parkinson’s may be challenging, but everyone has their own life challenges. And despite all of life’s challenges, I know I’ll get by with a little help from my friends.
Living with Parkinson's 