Depressing or Motivating....your choice

Last week I was sent a link to a website (http://ridewithlarrymovie.com/) and video about a man from South Dakota named Larry.  Larry has PD.  Larry refuses to be a victim.  In fact, Larry issued the challenge if $50,000 was raised, he would ride his bike across the state of South Dakota.  Quite a daunting challenge if you know Larry.  Larry’s PD is not friendly.  It causes him to have a lot of involuntary movements. 

A couple of close friends watched the video of Larry and commented that it was depressing.  My Mom even called it depressing.  Since my Father has PD, seeing how the disease impacts others and could impact him can be depressing.  The question looms, will my Dad experience those uncontrollable movements?  This is not a pleasant thought and is one I prefer not to consider.

I have thought a lot about this notion of the video being depressing.  Larry doesn’t appear to be depressed, so why should we?  He has taken control of the situation and not let the disease control the situation.  The more I think about the video, the more I realize we should not view Larry’s situation as depressing but we should view it as motivating. 

Why should we be depressed, Larry doesn’t appear to be? 

We can be sad, maybe even angry but we must accept the situation and be motivated by the research showing how diet and exercise slow the progression of the disease.  We must take control.

The key to remember is not Larry, my Dad, my cousin Pam, my aunt Delores, or my co-workers father, Salvador, nor anyone else CHOSE this disease.  They did not live life in such a way as to contract this disease.  The disease chose them and now it is their turn to CHOOSE to fight.  They must be motivated to make each day a good day, a happy day, a day worth remembering.  WE must CHOOSE to motivate them, encourage them and push them forward.

Yes, they and we will have down moments but we must not have down days, weeks, months or years.

Shannon and I made a choice to do something.  You made a choice to join us on our journey.  Don’t ever forget to make the choice to be motivating.  You will make a difference in someone’s life; just make sure you CHOOSE to make a positive difference.