2015 Goals... And Happy New Year!

[ActiveMSers]

Does anyone have big plans for 2015? I'm not talking resolutions per se, but commitments. If you put them down for all to see, they are harder to weasel out of.

Me: Get my long-promised seated cardio videos rolling. I've got my plan, I just need to execute it.

Happy New Year, everyone!

[Veronica]

Happy New Year to you too, Dave and to all of my Active MSer buddies out there! Immediate goal right now.....finish all this holiday fun and games and get back organized with my exercise routines..

[cl3me]

2015

Need to get back into routine of going to the gym after the xmas holidays. Already looking forward to the snow and cold being gone so I can get outdoors and back in the saddle - signed up for MS Bike Tour this summer.

Karen in "Winterpeg"

[Veronica]

I’ve given a lot of thought to my goals for 2015, and it all boils down to just one main focus for me. To work on getting fear of failure due to the MS off center stage for me. Fear is darn powerful and for me can be debilitating. Doesn't always happen, and usually doesn't stop me from starting a physically challenging event or day,but when it does, it takes over and convinces me I need to stop. When it happens and I am with others who know this side of me, they can “yell” at me ( of course in a supportive way….) and I can work through this and be quite thrilled with myself for having done so. It is when I am struggling with something on my own…be it when I have no one around to witness what I am doing to myself and to talk reality with me, or times when I may make excuses to get out of something due to this fear. And always when the fear wins out, I ultimately regret having caved into it. My tools for accomplishing this goal? (1) tell everyone close to me that this is what I am working on, and (2) when it is just Mr. Fear and me, to acknowledge his presence, and then tell him to step aside and let me be. I'll tell him he can say "I told you so..." if it doesn't work out as planned!! Not gonna be easy at times, but I really need to get him out of my head. Dealing with MS can be difficult enough, I don’t need to have my life limited by an unrealistic assessment of a future event. So wish me luck, my buddies!

[AMFADVENTURES]

Veronica, I know exactly what you're talking about. Having good friends around who will push you through certainly helps. I also frequently use the Nike method. Don't think about it, "Just do it".

2015 goal: Well there is that move to hike up Pikes Peak going on. Also, this year will mark my 10th MS 150 in Colorado.

Happy New Year all,

[cl3me]

Fear

Hi Veronica,

Managing our inner self talk can be challenging! Fear and "I can't because I have MS" are realities of living with MS. I went through this very thing too. Whenever I catch myself thinking "I can't" I now challenge it before giving up or not doing something. I ask myself is this a real concern or just fear. Is there a way I can make this easier for me? How do I know if I really can't? Have I at least tried? Funny thing is when I try it turns out I usually can do more than I thought. Sometimes MS puts real limits on us, and sometimes its fear of the "what if". I also give myself permission that if I at least try, and it doesn't work out, then the fact I tried is success. I also take the pressure off by changing the way I measure if I was successful. Example....with cycling I was getting discouraged because I couldn't always "keep up with" a proper training plan. So I took the bike computer off - that way I wasn't measuring success in how many km I did that day or what my average speed was, instead I was successful because I rode my bike. The mileage I needed just came naturally because I got out there and tried.

There have been times when I headed out for a long training ride, but just wasn't feeling it, so changed it up and went for a relaxing ride around the neighbourhood instead. I still called that day a success.

With my horse, on days when I'm not feeling strong enough to ride, I will do massage with him, or ground work, or I read up on horsemanship for new ideas on things to do and try with my horse.

Cheers,
Karen

[teena marie]

Hi there,

I echo all of the above. I`m working on my frustration. I find myself yelling and screaming out of sheer frustration. This is rather counter-productive as it just aggravates stiffness.

Teena Marie