Credo

Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left. ~Hubert Humphrey

Now there is an apt sort of credo for the MS challenged, don't you think? Not that Hubert Humphrey had MS. But there sure as hell was something wrong with him. Maybe it was just his politics. Maybe it was his association with Lyndon Johnson, poor fella.

In any case, there could scarcely be words more pertinent to my present situation than those of Mr. Humphrey. To suffer a loss of ability, be it physical or otherwise, is to be challenged to the core of ones being. It is a test of character and faith like no other.

What shall we say if we lose our strength? To move from this moment forward is impossible?

What if the mind begins to struggle at clarity? What if ones memory begins to hide things away? Shall I say that because I can no longer think in the way I am accustomed to thinking, there is nothing left to be thought?

Or what if I think instead according to the pattern of my inability? It may be that something new will struggle out, heretofore constricted by the laws of cogency and common logic.

Who knows?

Ultimately, we are not in control. We may therefore either conform to whatever reality befalls us, or spend our lives insisting that we have been wronged.

There is strength is every weakness, and weakness in every strength. The trick is all in the proper positioning of self.