That should have read I CAN think of positive stuff that has happened DESPITE this dreadful condition…doh…
As I was saying to some friends the other day MS has been pretty cruel to me physically and I am really quite disabled by it but as long as I can stay cheerful and keep enjoying my life regardless of how things change physically I won’t mind.
My truly big fear is becoming bitter and twisted and miserable but so far I haven’t seemed to be the sort of person likely to succumb to that. Indeed I think keeping a sense of humour and recognising our own individual strengths will be the saving grace of all us.
For me it is more a mind over matter situation and so no, it is not a nightmare because I won’t let it be one.
B
Nightmare - robs you of your life or the life you thought you were going to have…
Personally I felt the title of the post was a bit odd - it implies that we can only feel positive if we’re not affected that badly, and that’s not going to make someone feel great if they are affected badly.
Having said that, that’s not to say there can’t be positives that come from it. I was using a wheelchair by the age of 27, and it’s been a horrific journey at times. However, I think I’ve grown a lot as a person as a result of being ill, and I think I’m a much stronger person in many ways. It’s forced me to take responsibility for my life, and do a lot of soul searching & questioning of who I am and what I think is important.
Then there’s other things too - I may not be able to play football any more, but as gutting as that is, being a wheelchair user meant I was easily able to get cheap tickets to go to Wembley to see Pompey in two FA Cup semi-finals and finals : )
Dan
I’m fairly newly diagnosed and have been lucky to be pretty mild so far. I think the life sentence part of it hanging over you all the time is hard even when you are “well”. My life has changed a lot, as Rizzo says, my priorities have changed and I live life much better and more healthily now!
As others have said I am doing loads just now, and appreciating it cause I know I may not be able to in the future. I am thankful for my health just now even though I can’t walk very far or do as much as I’d like, my kids are small and I can look after them etc which is a blessing.
According to my teenage children, I have been that all along even before diagnosis! 
I always knew as I got older my knees would be knackered from all the running and I would have to stop pushing so much but just still trying to make the most of it.
But as Karen says, it is usually those who have problems/anxieties that use this forum moreso. Reminds me of the PALS/Wards at the hospital. They get many more complaints than a simple ‘job well done, keep at it’ comments.
It is good to interserperse it with ‘how well you feel right now’. Yes it is a blow being a newbie and the thought of the progression of this monster, but tamper it with sucess stories (and bad spelling from typing to fast! ), funny stories, real or not. This makes people chuckle (or groan).
The words of wisdom/values are invaluable as well.
Vince