My personal mission statement regarding my health

Attitude towards life is important. Therefore, attitude about my own life is very important.

Recently, my doctors said that I need to set a healthy priority in my life. I am happily married and my wife is the most wonderful woman who is very concerned about my health. She said she will kill me if I die before she does.

Before being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, I was very athletic, swam for 30 plus years and road cycling 25 to 100 miles every weekend. I played golf every week. When I was healthy physically, I have learned nothing about real life until my doctor told me that I need to be active again. I will be turning 50 on December 11th. I have type 2 diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, high blood pressure and about 30 lbs over-weight. Lifestyle modification, including a combination of weight loss and exercise, is important. Exercise helps to control weight, reduce stress, and keep blood glucose in check. If I want to live almost 100 years like my grandmother did, I need to value my health as one of the highest priorities.

Living with multiple sclerosis often put me on a roller coaster of emotions and I am learning to cope with my depressions. MS disease has an on-again, off-again pattern called relapsing-remitting MS, in which symptoms flare up and then disappear. Swimming is often recommended for people with MS because it provides a way for a patient to get exercise without becoming overheated. I have been swimming in the water since I was very young and been on many swim teams over the years all the way up to my 40's until MS hit me.

There are millions of excuses not to exercise. Too busy, too tired, too bored. None of them are valid reasons.

I am not as self-disciplined as I used to be when I was younger and athletic. I have some habits to overcome which have caused me to procrastinate and lack of assertiveness. Throughout my life, consciously or not, I will have to constantly formulating, revising, and (at least to some degree) following my personal priorities. The simplest are the day-to-day lists that basically consist of chores, errands, and plans for the very short term. Priorities, the things in my life that I think are important, can change over time, especially when I face a serious illness such as multiple sclerosis. I have to recognize that my priority list may change over time.

This morning, I checked out downtown YMCA's swimming pool and it looks good. I will be making an appointment sometime this week (hopefully today) with a membership staff and join.