Believe me when I tell you that Parkinson's Disease weighs upon one's spirit. It makes you want to curl-up in a ball and hide under your bed or sit in in your closet (and suck an egg), (If you are a Steve Martin fan, you know where that comes from. If not, forget it.)
Well... Don't do it. Parkinson's is trying to trick you into thinking that you can no longer do things; that you can no longer enjoy being with people,; that you'd be embarrassed or fail at whatever you try to do (except hide under your bed or sit in a closet.) Don't fall for it. PD plays with my head every morning, trying to make me think that I am not capable of doing what I had planned for that day before I went to bed the night before. I'm so used to this that I just ignore it. If I didn't ignore it, I would be letting PD win the battle and simply take over my life.
I know this fact for this reason. About six and a half years ago, I was retired because I believed that because of PD, I could no longer commute from Forest Hills into Manhattan even though it is a 14 minute train ride. Then my friend, Joel H., who had put together sort of a joint venture to expand a boutique real estate firm into a national player, called. He got the New York owner, Jim W., to hire me to run the property management side of the business. My workload seemed very light with only 5 buildings to run. Previously,I had been responsible for 300 buildings with a property management staff of 700 for a big public company, so I thought I would run out of things to do by my first coffee break; provided I could get to the office and then to the five buildings. I had no confidence that I could muster the strength and endurance to do the job, but I find it hard not to accept a challenge. Nevertheless, I set my goal as making it to work for only two weeks. I made it. Then two months. And I made that. Then two months became two years became 5 years. And then I was ready to start a new chapter of being a grandfather and a photographer. So I resigned and started anew. When I left the company, we were managing 70 buildings in Manhattan. It was a busy five years.
This is the story. By putting myself in a situation when I had to perform, I was able to overcome the limitations that Parkinson's was trying to impose on me. But due to my stubbornness, thick skin (or thick skull), I made it work for over five years.
So don't give in. Don't sit in your closet. Plan your day and then do it, no matter what.
You will be amazed.
This is one of my favorite photos of the Oculus at the New York World Trade Center. By the way, I still manage to travel into Manhattan without a problem.
Well... Don't do it. Parkinson's is trying to trick you into thinking that you can no longer do things; that you can no longer enjoy being with people,; that you'd be embarrassed or fail at whatever you try to do (except hide under your bed or sit in a closet.) Don't fall for it. PD plays with my head every morning, trying to make me think that I am not capable of doing what I had planned for that day before I went to bed the night before. I'm so used to this that I just ignore it. If I didn't ignore it, I would be letting PD win the battle and simply take over my life.
I know this fact for this reason. About six and a half years ago, I was retired because I believed that because of PD, I could no longer commute from Forest Hills into Manhattan even though it is a 14 minute train ride. Then my friend, Joel H., who had put together sort of a joint venture to expand a boutique real estate firm into a national player, called. He got the New York owner, Jim W., to hire me to run the property management side of the business. My workload seemed very light with only 5 buildings to run. Previously,I had been responsible for 300 buildings with a property management staff of 700 for a big public company, so I thought I would run out of things to do by my first coffee break; provided I could get to the office and then to the five buildings. I had no confidence that I could muster the strength and endurance to do the job, but I find it hard not to accept a challenge. Nevertheless, I set my goal as making it to work for only two weeks. I made it. Then two months. And I made that. Then two months became two years became 5 years. And then I was ready to start a new chapter of being a grandfather and a photographer. So I resigned and started anew. When I left the company, we were managing 70 buildings in Manhattan. It was a busy five years.
This is the story. By putting myself in a situation when I had to perform, I was able to overcome the limitations that Parkinson's was trying to impose on me. But due to my stubbornness, thick skin (or thick skull), I made it work for over five years.
So don't give in. Don't sit in your closet. Plan your day and then do it, no matter what.
This is one of my favorite photos of the Oculus at the New York World Trade Center. By the way, I still manage to travel into Manhattan without a problem.
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