Longing for Belonging: Advice from the MS Community

A person looking at the clock on their phone while laying on the couch getting ready to watch a movie.

Living with multiple sclerosis (MS) can be very isolating. This condition often creates feelings of being disconnected from others and the world. Many feel the longing to belong and forge relationships as they could before their diagnosis.

After posting an article written by MS advocate Devlin Garlit, we received an overwhelming response from community members. As Garlit said, Continue reading

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Find Your Inner Peace

“Peace on earth…” a common phrase we hear during this time of the year, but what happens when the earth is in the middle of a crisis called COVID? I have the answer. Find your inner peace.

Whether it’s COVID, an unpaid bill, or an encounter with the “Grinch,” there will always be someone or something that will come along and try to steal your peace. However, just like there are opportunities to focus on the ongoing chaos we see in the world, there are also opportunities to focus on the positive things in life that can help us find and keep our inner peace. If you want to live a peaceful life, a great way to start is by establishing some mental boundaries. You are the boss. You are in charge. You have the final say as to what you will allow your mind to focus on and what you won’t allow your mind to focus on. It’s all about perspective. If you shift your perspective, you can reach a deeper level of inner peace.

How can you find your inner peace?

Fill your mind and focus it on things that are good, honest, respectable, and gracious. Focus on the best of a situation, instead of the worst. Focus on the beautiful things in life; the things that are worth smiling about. Your perspective is the filter on your reality that directly affects your level of inner peace. Whether you see the glass half full or half empty, you are right. So why not see it half full? There are so many things that we might not be able to change. However, the one thing we can change is our perspective and whether we will allow our inner peace to be taken from us.

My answer is no, and my hope for you is that you will find your peace on earth and never let it go.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

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Joy: It’s the Little Things

By Stacie Prada

It’s a season of wishing glad tidings of comfort and joy. I’ve never really thought about what that means, so I looked it up. Tidings means delivering news or making an announcement. I don’t think I’ve ever used the phrase, but I probably used it wrong if I did. I thought it was wishing someone else comfort and joy, but technically it means to deliver good news. It’s sharing our own good news, because we think they’ll be glad to hear it.

I think celebrating and sharing our joyful moments brightens the day for many. I experience joy when I Continue reading

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Perfectly Pleasant Personality Please

By Scott Cremeans

You better change your attitude, mister, or I will change it for you. I remember occasionally hearing that as a kid, and I wondered how anyone could change someone else’s disposition. I thought it, but I was smart enough never to ask the question, which would have been bad for my health. I always tried to have a great attitude no matter the situation as a young guy, and meditating in Mother Nature helped tremendously. I now try to stay positive and hope that a smile or kind word I give is just what someone needs to change their day.

There are a lot of negative aspects that come with a medical diagnosis like multiple sclerosis. At any step of the way, any disease can weigh heavily on your body Continue reading

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Eggnog Hot Chocolate – Recipe of the Month

It’s that time of year to snuggle up next to a warm fire or a loved one, especially if you’re sipping this Eggnog Hot Chocolate recipe.

This recipe will hopefully help get you in the spirit of the holiday season. After the year we’ve had, shouldn’t we indulge ourselves a little.

Goodbye 2020 and Hello 2021. Continue reading

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Choose Joy

The year was an unexpected one,

to say the very least,

it was unlike any we’ve had,

let’s just say 2020 was a beast.

 

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Gretchen Steele – December 2020 Artist of the Month

Each year, MSAA features the work of artists affected by multiple sclerosis in our annual MSAA Art Showcase. We also highlight one artist each month as our Artist of the Month. This month, we are proud to feature artist Gretchen Steele of Coulterville, IL:

Gretchen Steele December Artist of the Month

“On Such a Winter Day”

About the Artist Continue reading

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