People worry too much, and often with no reason and it is sometimes strategically given to us . Worry can be counter productive and negate any chance of good long term planning and leads to other problems becoming stress. Stress we know makes PD worse and PD creates stress.
I am 77 , to demonstrate let me take you back oh 65 years and you can meet my grandmother, born in 1905. She was a very tough women who would not take any crap from anybody and knew what was right and what was wrong and clearly spelled out what she expected and taught us how to live to her ideals with, God family and friends as priority . A very strong working feminist, anti-racism , and a protector of others especially children and poor women. She would give them whatever she could , at the minimum a cup of tea . She worried about everyone and the race riots and Vietnam in the newspaper every day was not helpful.
Then my grandfather purchased a television and my grandmother’s world fell apart and we did not understand for a long time, why. My mother said it was "the change " but there was nothing done , no one knew what to do.
Finally after many hours of conversation with her I understood. She could not deal with the TV. She could not tell the difference between the news and a show like I love Lucy or a documentary vs a movie and the soap operas vs the problems in real life. She cried for days when Edith Bunker on the TV series "All In The Family" died just like when her own sister died. She also was unable to separate geographical distances, so that something happening a world away was happening in our small town. We received 3 television station / channels that worked , one local CBC affiliate , one Toronto and one from Buffalo that gave her the worst problems. houses burning, tornados in Ohio, shootings, and missing children.
My grandfather put a lock on the television electrical plug and reviewed every programmes content in the TV Guide before she could plug it in to watch, he cancelled all news papers except the local one and fixed the radio so it would receive only the local station so she could still listen to the “ Back to the Bible Hour” and the local call in programs . It worked.
I have not watched news, or weather programs on television or read sensationalist news papers for twenty years . My world is small , and comfortable in my neighbourhood . Somebody else will have to fix the problems in the rest of the world because there is enough problems even here to keep me busy. How much of your worry is unnecessary and what does it accomplish ?
Excellent post, I have a tendency to worry about things that I have no control over, And it's a big waste of time. I need to focus on what I can control and let everything else go.
Gymsack, you never fail to bring me up short, to literally stop in my tracks and think.
Your ability to slice to the core of a problem and to write with a fluency that grabs the heart and shakes brain leaves me in complete awe. You are AMAZING, truly.
Great post, which got me thinking. My husband of 42 years has PD (diagnosed 2021). Just lately, because he can't sleep, he has been sitting up until all hours watching the news channels, and I have seen an increase in the frequency of vivid dreams. These dreams really tend to upset him and stay with him throughout the day. This, in turn, affects other Parkinsons symptoms and it then becomes a vicious circle. I know he likes to keep up with what is going on in the world, but when it begins to affect your well being, there comes a time when I may have to say enough is enough, and encourage him to listen to music or get into a nature documentary series!!
I used to worry a lot and I think my PD started due to stress, but since I have been diagnosed, I have let go unnecessary things which makes you worry..my day starts at 8 am with a gratitude pray to God and I thank that he gave me one more day to live and I will make most of it, then I do meditation for 10 minutes and few yoga exercise and yes I walk 2 to 3 mile 3 times in a week, I am telling you it has really helped me.
I don't get involve in gossip, unnecessary debate, I mind my business and do my work 9am to 5pm then spend time with my wife and kids and on weekend I do gardening or small DIY job-my world is small and beautiful.
I used to take Sinemet plus and Cocareldopa x 4 times a day but since I have started taking clean mucuna tab, I take Sinemet and cocareldopa x 3 times, I don't take any multivitamins because I eat healthy diet. I would recommend anyone suffering from constipation to eat raw fennel seeds 2 spoons at night, chew fennel seeds for 10 to 15 minutes, it has lots of fibre and it has really helped me.
Morale of the story is .. if you have peace within yourself then body heals on its own..so let go unnecessary things and be happy😊
I enjoyed your post. I experienced overwhelming stress around the time my symptoms were first appearing. I still wonder if the stress induced the PD or the PD induced the stress. Like you I learned about letting go and have evolved as a part of something bigger. Thank you for sharing!
A man who knows the secret of life. Tell me how you came to know this. It took many years before I could understand and it was almost too late. Raw Fennel seeds , I will try it.
I taught high school for 40 years and one of the daily quotes that I used to put up on the board year after year was : "Why worry? Half the things you worry about never happen, the other half happen anyway. So why worry?"
Also the kids loved the reasoning behind this one: "Why study? The more you study, the more you know. The more you know, the more you forget. The more you forget, the less you know. So why study?"
I haven't been on here for quite some time. My husband's diagnosis of Parkinson's in 2019 was changed to Lewy body Dementia about 2 years ago. Horrible disease. Pretty sure he's in end stage which can last 1.5 - 2.5 years. I'm his primary caregiver. Hardest thing I've ever had to do. Don't know what I would do without Jesus! So I love how your grandmother lived her life and I agree with TV! It can be very upsetting.
Love you guys and I pray that you continue your journey with peace in your hearts.
Excellent post and reminders. For anyone that hasn’t looked into it, I would highly recommend investigating John Kabat-Zinn and in particular his research and teachings around mindfulness and meditation. He wrote the ““bible” on these topics : “Full Catastrophe Living”. Weird title and a long read but very much worth it. Simple and powerful concepts. Has had a huge impact on my life.
Alfred E. Neuman is your icon photo, correct? Did you notice the absolutely perfect dovetail (Well heck yes, of course, he would say that, look who he's got as his moniker.) it's like the fast walking guy saying "well you know I have found fast walking to be singularly helpful in this matter." Maybe like him putting up a character icon of those red shoes with lightning strikes on them, that the Flash likes to wear. Still a great thought, absolutely right, absolutely helpful.
So anyway that's the first thing I thought of when I saw your very nice original post, which was about excess worrying.
(I also thought of the movie Bridge Of Spies, for everyone who hasn't seen it, what a great movie, and it illustrates your point perfectly since the main character who was threatened with what the Soviets would do to him when they got him back, and the moron character of Tom Hanks kept asking and asking and asking the guy "aren't you worried about what the Soviet security service will do to you?" And the guy would ask back " Would it help? "
Anyway, kind of goes along with Alfred E. Neuman doesn't it? (At this point I think it reasonable to see you doing a palm slap, "O Crikey I forgot that was there." )
Okay, he's your online persona, so please tell everybody the point of Mr Nueman's motto for those who don't know. What a great example of it. Let them in on the fun. It's seriously great how elegantly it fits with all this theme herein. Just about on the same level with Shakespeare, I enjoyed it that much.
MarionP you are supposed to rub the cannabis on your skin not eat it. I never know when you are being sarcastic. Alfred E Newman is the invention of MAD magazine. He ran for president of the United States in the magazine several times ( just like Pat Paulson on the Laugh-in television program.) He is irreverent and opinionated and unconcerned about the consequences of any thing he does. His motto is "what me worry" no commas , no question marks and no explanation. MMMMM I see what you are saying but Newman was not patterned after Charles because Newman came first.
I do enjoy reading your responses when you think someone has offended you or higher learning or is being deceptive. You write a good rant.
Charles will always be in his mother's shadow no matter what he does and it is his children that will be the problem. I just wish he would stop referring to his Mommy.
You're right about cannabis, it makes you stupid, I tried it once for pain management hoping to get away from NSAIDS and to get a little relaxation from some of these spasms I get. It made me stupid...I couldn't stand it, I could feel it making me stupid...I couldn't hold a thought in my head, I couldn't even hold something in my head I had just heard and no matter how hard I tried it continued.. and worse, I knew it was happening. It was a dreadful experience and I hated every second of it. Was hoping it would be useful for some muscle relaxation and pain relief. Well maybe for some but not in my case for sure.
Honestly I thought you knew about Alfred, you put him on your identity here, not me. I thought it was a great pun, fit the message of worrying too much perfectly and there it was on your moniker. Absolutely makes sense and the kind of fun and literate clever way that Shakespeare was known for. Mad magazine was the best satire around back then.
So I figured you knew about the following all along, which you can read in the Alfred E Neuman entry in Encyclopedia Britannica:
"In 1958, Mad published letters from several readers noting the resemblance between Neuman and England's Prince Charles, then nine years old. Shortly thereafter, an angry letter under a Buckingham Palace letterhead arrived at the Mad offices: "Dear Sirs No it isn't a bit – not the least little bit like me. So jolly well stow it! See! Charles. P." The letter was authenticated as having been written on triple-cream laid royal stationery bearing an official copper-engraved crest. The postmark indicated it had been mailed from a post office within a short walking distance of Buckingham Palace."
I think it was authentic, don't you? Listen, you're the one who is a Brit. I'm not British, I'm American. But it seems I'm the one who knew what you were putting up on your own namesake. But you're the one who put Alfred up on your thing, so I figured you knew what it was you were putting forward. Just wanted to have a little bit of harmless fun, figured if I implied you were dissing your own monarch, you couldn't resist, also if you were following your own advice like you were preaching then I you wouldn't take it all that seriously, right?
So, what, you "worried" he might hear about it and send some delegation round to enquire?
If you use it topically only it can not get to and does not get to the brain or show in any test of the blood and it does not matter if it is CBD or HTC or whatever it will not have any effect on your mental state. You have to smoke or ingest it to put it into the blood stream for that to occur. I was using a commercial oil topically on my muscles and joints as a pain reliever so I grew two plants and made enough skin cream to last my wife and I for a year that would have cost me thousands of dollars. It works . I can not smoke it because it makes me dizzy which is just what one needs if you have PD.
Sorry, I thought you were British. Most Cdn's don't like being called a Brit but still respect the position of King and if not the man they still do not say so. We leave any complaining about the Royals to the Brits because they pay for it all, not us. On second thought we probably do also. I do not know how many people are in the royals, but it is a huge number, Dukes and Duchesses , cousins galore and a lot of money.
I have always held on to the Alfred E. attitude and disrespect of a political system and an authority based on financial position of one's family and being born with a silver spoon regardless of education or accomplishment but it will always be that way.
Thanks for the instructions/recipes, they sound very good and I'll keep your instructions until it's legal where I live, right now it isn't. Meanwhile, the paltry bit of CBD that is legal has to be by prescription and then it is extremely expensive at the dispensaries so it might be awhile, but in a few years we are planning to move and the places we like all have it legal. Meanwhile it is naproxen city.
A Flowering Dogwood tree, they will grow here if protected from the wind and early frost and if they can attain deep enough roots before a bad winter hits them. But I can not find them in stores just seeds by mail. Yours seems white, I have only seen dark pink trees. I will have to be satisfied with my Lilacs which are just now starting to bud.
I do not have sufficient vocabulary to write and while I have had many experiences they are not that interesting to others, good memories for me but that is all. Mark Twain pretty much covered anything I have to say.
I am paraphrasing, but there is a Buddhist quote: “If you are depressed, you are living in the past; if you are anxious, you are thinking of the future. To be at peace, you must live in the moment.”
My father was very much like your grandmother — no nonsense, extremely competent, the kind of guy who could listen to the sound of car’s engine and tell you what’s wrong with it, then repair it. Years before the end of his life, he became much more morose and would leave the house only to go to doctor’s appointments. Every time I would visit, a typical conversation would go like this:
Me: “Hey Dad, how’s it going?”
Him (flippantly): “I’m dying…”
Me (response #1): “Dad, we’re all dying…” or
Me (response #2 - with a wink and smile): “Yes, but not today!”
Response number 2 usually made him smile, because he realized he was wasting time worrying about something he couldn’t control. It’s true for all of us, the next ten minutes are not promised to you, and being healthy does not guarantee you will outlive an unhealthy person. I personally know someone, who had everything going for him: healthy, retired with a good income, beautiful wife, lots of friends, a beautiful home, and a hobby he loved restoring old cars. I heard his end came tragically when one of the cars he was working under, somehow fell off its blocks and crushed him. We all expect every day to be just a regular day — until it’s not.
The only time my HWP truly gets on my nerves is when he moping about what he can’t do any more. Well, then, what can you do? Let’s focus on that. I recently became interested in taking horse riding lessons; I know he can’t go with me, when in days past, he probably would have joined me. Instead, I go and take him with me, but I pack a picnic lunch and he can sit in the sun, which he loves and read or take our small dog for a walk while I take my 1 hour lesson. Later, we either picnic afterwards and maybe walk around the park. As a person who does not have Parkinsons living with someone that does, I have to get creative so we are both living up to our potential as best we can.
Our neurologist told us once, “There’s still so much in your control…”. So as much as you can control your situation, however small, please do. At this stage in our lives, it’s the small things that count.
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Perhaps advice? Heart broken. Baring my soul.
What you gonna do? Sleep? Forsooth! (Parts 1 & 2 & End)
PART 1 : Reversing Memory Deficits And Senior Moments In A 78 Year Old 
She/Doctor threatened pulling my driver's license...
The most important piece of the puzzle?
