Life is about learning… Learning for life!

At each age and stage, we learn new things. As we grow through the stages of life we learn as an individual how we do life.

When my daughter had her beautiful twin girls – my first grandchildren – just as she had to learn to be a mother, I had to learn how to be a Nanna. I know as a Mother I didn’t always get it right and it was the same with the new role of Nanna that I found myself in. I have often said that if a person learns from their mistakes, I must be a genius by now!

I have also been married three times, so obviously there was some learning along the way there too, figuring out how to be in a marriage. I had to find a way to be the me I needed to be within a marriage. In my third marriage – and my last I might add – I feel I have finally found the space and the relationship that allows me to be my true self.

Then comes another stage I hadn’t planned for. The Parkies stage! The other stages and learnings are an expected period in many people’s lives. Parkies is not! I am a member of a Facebook page for people affected by Parkinson’s both people with Parkinson’s and their family. I see posts by others with busy and intense exercise regimes. I see them and I wonder if I am doing enough. Should I exercise more? Should I do this? Should I do that? Then I remember… I HATE SHOULDISMS! They are value laden with the expectations of others.

Instead, I try to think of what I can do. Me, with my body. With my Parkies, not anyone else’s. With my life and my many other maladies and health complexities. I know I probably could do more and I truly hope that I can, but at the moment, I have a heavy workload at work and working longer hours. I have a knee injury causing me a lot of pain just getting through the day. Going to the gym seems a step too far sometimes! Quite literally! Putting one foot in front of the other just to get around causes me pain by the end of the day. Pushing it further at the gym, just feels too hard right now.

So, I probably could do more, and I would like to, but right now I am focused on sorting out my knee so that I feel more able to do more exercise. The last thing I need is something additional threatening my mobility! I am seeing an Orthopedic Surgeon in the coming week and hope to get some answers about a solution. Surely, an operation and planned recovery would be better than a knee condition that will just rear its ugly head whenever and wherever I may be? We are planning a trip to see family in the UK next year and so looking forward to it. We want to be as active as possible as we just don’t know how I might be when the next trip is due. We usually only go about every 4-5 years, so with Parkinson’s it is hard to know how I will be by then. Hopefully, I can still be reasonably active and not have mobility issues, but you never know.

What I have learned from Parkies is that the time to do things is now! To think of the bucket list and do it. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t wait till retirement. Do it now! I don’t want to look back in 10 years’ time and look back with regret. I want to look back on a period of happy memories and experiences.

There is still a whole lot to learn in life about how I move forward with Parkies as my constant companion. As long as I don’t let them take the driving seat, it will be OK. As long as I can retain control over my life in the things I can control and can learn to accept what I can’t control, it will largely be OK!