Find the Beauty and the Wonder and the Magic and the Humor in Everything - even Life Get Tough

Yesterday I became aware of Hanna or better a good colleague made me aware by Linkedin.

Hanna faced and is facing ALS - and I see - no there are so many things in common - My wife came down with PPMS (Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis) which is characterized by a gradual, steady and often uniformly continuously worsening of symptoms without relapse.

As well, for my wife's disease there was no way of predicting how this was going to progress. Many people can live for decades with Multi Sclerosis and as well with PPMS (Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis) but my wife only had less than one decade from completely healthy to having only the ability to move the middle three fingers of her left hand in the morning hours. 
People with PPMS and ALS and many other similar diseases know that they have only a limited time.

These diseases attack certain nerves of the body, affecting muscle and nerve function. For that reason, they share many of the same symptoms, especially in the early stages.

Initial symptoms include:

• muscle weakness and stiffness
• loss of coordination and muscle control
• difficulty moving the limbs

However, the symptoms then become quite different as the conditions progress. People with MS often experience cognitive problems, which is rare with ALS. People with ALS typically develop greater physical difficulties. 

My motivation to write this article was - hearing almost the same words from Hanna as my wife said. That she never felt so loved, never heard, never seen and supported. My wife's and mine relationship were deepening so deep, close and, believe it or not, as well more beautiful. And the second motivation was Hanna's thoughts about gratitude which touched me and I see it in my blog as well - I never ever thought so intensive about gratitude and reflecting about dignity, worth of living and enjoying life as good as everyone can. And it is no surprise that I am thinking and writing so much about grieving - which motivated me to help others in such times of life.

In the following video (about 11 minutes) Hanna talks about her diagnosis, her experience with ALS, and the ways in which the prospect of a fatal disease connects to the wider challenges and invitations of our time.

at 8:00min Hanna mentioned a woman - I guess it is Vanessa Machado de Oliveira's book "Hospicing Modernity" - my wife could not read it, as it was released a few months after my wife died, but reading this book is as listening to my wife's thoughts. Vanessa Machado de Oliveira wrote in her book that we as world and society are driven by expansion, exploitation, and resource extraction and propelled by neoliberalism and rabid consumption, and that our world is profoundly out of balance. That we take more than we give - that we, pardon me for using these words, that we abuse our planet; we inoculate ourselves in positive self-regard and self-deceitful acting and thinking while continuing to make harmful choices; we wreak irreparable havoc on the ecosystems, habitats, and beings with whom we share our planet. 

Her final word touch me so deep ..."find the Beauty and the Wonder and the magic and the humor in everything so it can sustain us - to face everything without closing down or curling into an apathetic wall that needs to face their way to be okay."

Visit as well her website  okaythen.net/hanna   and read her thoughts about gratitude 

And one closing quote from William J. Brennan, Jr.:
 “We must meet the challenge rather than wish it were not before us.”

And why I choose this f...ck image for my article - well because my wife used the f-word while talking about her disease and she call the PPMS 'the f...ing little assh...' 
And I am as a stoic and ex-competitive sportsman thinking and believing Life is not a matter of holding good cards or only racing the good race tracks, but of playing a poor hand well. If the only miracle we are looking for  or want to look at are the big one ... then we might or will most likely miss the other miracles, the good people around us, the good moments and emotions which are unfolding before our very eyes, and that can happen each and every day.