Happy New Year (2023) from the Journey with Parkinson’s

“Let us resolve to do the best we can with what we’ve got.” William Feather

“Maybe this year, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives not looking for flaws, but looking for potential.” Ellen Goodman

Happy New Year!

In the New Year, may you maintain excellent health, create quality time for loved ones, family, and friends, have great weather for exercise, and gain control over the scourge named Parkinson’s.

Life Changes in 2022: This has been the year of changes for me, centered on retirement. Move from North Carolina to South Carolina. Go from being 5 hours from the beach to now being ~30 min from the ocean. I left an active-hectic academic medicine career (research and teaching) where I had been for ~40 years, and now rarely have to look at the clock/calendar except to check on my next golf tee time.

This is the healthiest I have felt in the presence of Parkinson’s. The combination of less stress, more sleep, a better diet, the proper amount of carbidopa/levodopa, a balanced mix of Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) substances, more exercise, working/writing these blog posts, and being with Susan have all contributed to my current excellent health.

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life Forward in 2023: I look forward to the year ending and beginning a new one.

I look forward to tackling the challenges presented by my Parkinson’s as it plots to overthrow my mind. I have news for Parkinson’s in the new year, as exercise will be more critical.

I look forward to spending more quality time with Susan. She means a lot to me and is poised to be my care partner whenever needed.

I miss teaching most of all from my academic medicine career. However, I am partnering with a Parkinson’s network to do other writing and moderation for people seeking information and guidance about Parkinson’s. Both tasks will be good for me. Hopefully, I can provide some valuable insight for these people needing answers.

I do plan to embrace the concept of being retired. Several people have told me that I will love being retired when I figure out what it means. Looking back, I now realize how much we accomplished together as a laboratory research group science-wise. Furthermore, I can also acknowledge how much I achieved teaching in the classroom (with the help of many others, I need to say). I/we accomplished a lot. And I did enough. Enjoy retirement.

“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” Brad Paisley

A 1-Page Overview of the Year and Thank You: Thank you to all of the readers of this blog; it gives me great satisfaction knowing you are here. I applaud and acknowledge your bravery and strength in striving to live well with Parkinson’s. Remember the words of Paulo Coelho, “And one has to understand that braveness is not the absence of fear but rather the strength to keep on going forward despite the fear.” 

Finally, I have renewed enthusiasm for writing this blog, and I look forward to the new year and our future together. Happy New Year, everyone.

“New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.” Hamilton Wright Mabie

Cover Photo Image by LoneWombatMedia from Pixabay