Monday, May 16, 2011

E.A.S.Y. Way to Thrive

E.A.S.Y.
(E)
EDUCATION


It's not always easy getting up to face a new day.  Hearing "new" news of something else NF has done to our family seems to happen every other day.  But I have found that if I focus my time on everything that NF is doing to me and my kids, I have a hard time finding ways to beat the welled up anger and frustration I have.

In my book, Thriving with Neurofibromatosis, I share stories of my childhood, while watching how NF affected my brother and my mom.  Never once believing that NF would also come to haunt me.

Ialso outline the steps I took, to help myself go from being afraid of NF, to embracing my own diagnosis, as well as the diagnosis of 3 out of my 6 kids.

The first step to truly "getting" my NF, was EDUCATION.  Without a full understanding of Neurofibromatosis and all of its unpredictable symptoms, there would be no way that I would even begin to understand that I could move beyond the diagnosis.

Every single day, I make the choice in how I will live my day.  Minute to minute.  Day to Day.  I am constantly learning new things about Neurofibromatosis and how it affects everyone who is diagnosed in different ways.

There is so much information (and misinformation) out there, and it's our responsibility to seek it out.  Educating yourself, puts you in a place of greater control.  The learning never stops.  We have to take ownership and become caretakers of our own disorder and learn what we CAN control, and what we cannot...What we can treat and what we must simply endure. 

Fear breads in the unknown, and ignorance leads nowhere.  Learning and reaching out to the information that is out there, is MY responsibility....YOUR responsibility.  The more I know, the more I am learning new ways to THRIVE....and to help show others that they can THRIVE too.

But Education is only part of the E.A.S.Y. way to Thrive....Tomorrow, is all about ACTION!

THRIVE ON! 


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