We all learn from our parents and my mother was a great influence on me.  In spite of several surgeries for mysterious lumps after a mastectomy, she just kept on going and going and going……….she would call me and say that she was going in the next day for surgery to take off yet another piece of her, but don’t worry, it’s not a big deal.  We started to call her the Energizer Bunny.  Her attitude was to keep on going until you can’t.   Unfortunately one last surgery resulted in a massive stroke which meant the energizer bunny had finally run out of batteries.

I feel the same way about living with PD.  We need to keep our batteries fresh so that we can keep going and going……The alternative is not so great.  For me, the number one thing is to exercise every day.  Of course there are days when it just isn’t possible and I try to get in the recommended 10,000 steps a day to make up for it (thank you FitBit).   Through a combination of yoga, boxing for PD, cardio on an Elliptical or Bicycle, and once a week tennis, along with my meds, I am relatively pain and tremor-free and find that my lifestyle is not compromised by having PD.   For those of you who are not exercising, please get out there and find something that you enjoy.  There are great Dancing for Parkinson’s classes, Boxing for PD, yoga classes and much more.  Or just go walking with a friend.  Get a good exercise tracker such as a FitBit, Jawbone or other device, to track your exercise.  Set up a competition with a friend to encourage you to get out there.  Most people find that their tremors decrease along with their stress levels when they exercise.  And you will feel a lot better in general.

Those of you who know me understand that it is hard for me to slow down.  I continue to find more things to keep me busy,  usually because of some great idea that occurs to me at 4:00 am when I should be sleeping.  Hopefully, it will be a very long time before my batteries run out.   I have always been like my mom, and to her, I say “thank you.”