Speaker: My name is Gary.

Group response: Hi Gary.

Speaker: I Have Parkinson's Disease

 The line that separates living as a victim of circumstances and accepting what has happened while living life to the fullest extent possible is often a faint and hard to distinguish line in the sand of the road we call life.  Sometimes it is a bold, double thick white line on black asphalt.  But, sometimes it is a blur, a smudge, a squiggle.  Not a line at all. 

Wise people who have already traveled this road have taught us that although we have no control over what happens to us, we have total control over how we respond.  To those of us who are responding to life-defining conditions I have this encouragement  "Let us respond with victory.  Not as victims."

(Disclaimer:  I am not a goal setting individual.   My attitude towards New Year's Resolutions has, for as long as I can remember been, "Don't set any. Don't fail at any.")

Keeping that in mind, here are some labels I have recently discovered on my personal target.

I WILL NOT...let Parkinson's dominate my conversation.  I determine to find something else to talk about in addition to my physical condition.  

I WILL NOT... let Parkinson's be my default interpretation of what someone means when they say, "How are you?" 

I WILL NOT...deny my physical disabilities, but

I WILL...strive to live so that my friends and acquaintances have things other than Parkinson's to think of when they think of me.

I WILL...practice responding with a polite "Thank you" when someone attempts to be kind to me in word or deed.