Stress....One day at a Time!

Stress......we are all overwhelmed with stress today.  Parkinsons patients are told to live a stress free life, the less stress the longer and better quality of life we will have.  Please.....how do we live a stress free life. I have learned since being diagnosed not to stress over the stupid little things that go on around me, things that would have bothered me before. For example: during the holidays one of my grandchildren pulled the towel rack off of the bathroom wall by trying to do pull ups on it, his/her Mom was very upset.  I told my daughter not to worry about it, I can fix it and no one will be the wiser, it is not worth getting upset about. I also told her to stop stressing over things that she has no control over.  Did you know that if you have a parent who has Parkinsons you have a 1 in 3 chance of getting the disease. I have three daughters and I do pray that none of them follow in my footsteps in this respect.  My Dad had Parkinsons, we did not know it until he was further into the disease.  Not only did he have Parkinsons but he also had Alzheimers which he developed as a secondary to PD.  Stress...oh I do worry about the Alzheimers, I remember looking into my Dads eyes and he would look back at me with this pleading (as if to say please help me), no I do not want Alzheimers.  There are six children in my family, I am number five.  To date I am the only one who has been diagnosed with PD and I pray my brothers and sisters do not eventually get the same diagnosis. Learning to live a stress free life is not easy it will take alot of patience and I am sure there will be trying times when I will be overwhelmed with stress, but I am learning one day at a time.