Three Goals

As we have tried to get our heads around a diagnosis of "the average life expectancy of someone with ALS is three years," I have decided on three goals to govern this portion of my life:  1.  Allow myself permission to cry,  2.  Find joy in every day, and 3.  Prioritize like crazy!
Not knowing how many tomorrows there really are can be very sobering.
We have found out that some people live a lot longer than the three years Dr. Kolb spoke of.  However, a new doctor said that it seems to have moved faster than normal in my legs.  Will it be that way in the rest of my body?
For now, we can only be thankful for what we have today, and find comfort in the fact that God is real, and that life and relationships go on even after death.
At first, every time I saw or heard the letters "ALS," I felt sick inside.  I decided I needed a different attitude.
My mind went back to when I was renewing my teaching certificate.  I was in a class with a woman who'd stayed home for years, like I had, to be a full-time mom.  She had just finished her first year of being back.  I asked her what had been the hardest thing about it.  Her answer quite surprised me.  She said something like, "The acronyms.  They use all these acronyms all the time, and I don't know what they are talking about."  A few months later, I was sitting in a faculty meeting about upcoming tests.  Our assistant principal kept talking about PBTs and CBTs.  I racked my brain for anything I'd learned in college with those letters, and could not think of anything! In desperation, I started looking at a handout we'd been given. Eventually, I discovered that PBTs were paper based tests (tests given on paper), and CBTs were tests given on the computer.  I had to work at not laughing out loud!  When I was in college there were no acronyms like that, all tests were given on paper!
Anyway, I decided that I needed a new acronym for ALS.  Eventually, I came up with something that helps me feel better when I see or hear ALS.  It is, "Always Learn Something!"  I am now trying to look at the new, and sometimes difficult situations that are coming into my life from that perspective. It's been very helpful.