Growing Beyond The Future
Issue 3: March 2007
Our first newsletter for 2007 sets the mood for MainStay this year. Living with MS or any chronic condition can sometimes load you to a view that life is unfair and that you have lost everything. Paul's story clearly demonstrates that through the eyes of MS you can see the kindness of people and their willingness to assist a fellow human being, we see the nicer side of most people and that's a blessing on itself. Enjoy Paul's story.
Warm regards
Mark Horton
Natural goodness isn't just in fruit
A few years ago, I attended an 'Evening for people with multiple sclerosis'. The young woman running the show started out with the comment that "There's nothing good about having Multiple Sclerosis!" I thought that that was perfectly obvious - I had had MS for about three years then and there certainly was nothing good about it.
Since then I have come to wonder whether there is something good about it. When I was on two sticks, I found strangers were good to me. One classic instance was the young guy in a Porsche who stopped in the middle of traffic to ask me if I needed help getting across the road!
Now that I'm in a wheelchair, I have found that there's a natural goodness in people that just seems to come out. It's as if someone in a wheelchair provides the excuse for strangers to do "a good deed". Not all people, not all the time, but more often than not perfect strangers will chat to you, joke with you and make life a bit more bearable!
In public, it's almost impossible to open a door before someone will come to my aid. Young kids, who might be expected to run a mile from a wheelchair, will offer to push open a door for you. It's something that can't be asked for or demanded - it's just something that seems to well up in people. On two occasions staff in restaurants have rearranged a whole series of tables for me!
But the best example of "wheelchair charisma" are the experiences my partner and I have had using State Rail. It's a favourite whipping post of the media - late trains, skipped stops, etc. We have found guard staff and station staff to be the epitome of professionalism, care and concern - with only two hiccups. I couldn't believe so much friendliness could come from a transport organisation in spite of timetabling pressures, heat and a harsh working environment. All with no incentive of reward other than our sincerest thank you's.
If I was a religious person, I'd be giving credit to the Almighty, or the Holy Ghost - but I think there's a vein of goodness in people that sometimes we are lucky enough to tap into.
To my fellow MS sufferers, I encourage you to keep a lookout for the occasional gifts handed to you when all your own gifts and abilities seem to have been snatched away.
If you have a story you would like to share please email: mainstay@markhorton.com.au
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