Chapter 71. I never could have imagined.
September 25, 2014
The next time you’re imagining the worst, look up the definition of imagination. ~Robert Baittie
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That is the edict that I have tried to live my life by ever since receiving my diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 2012.
Your imagination is what you choose to make of it.
With PD I could choose to imagine the very best in my future, or I could choose to imagine the worst: a life filled with happiness, propelled forward by positivity, or a life of misery and stagnancy where all possibilities are denied. I could imagine my life having a new beginning, or I could imagine it coming to an end.
To me, the choice was simple. I really couldn’t imagine any other choice. I chose to be happy. For me I chose to imagine Parkinson’s changing my life for the better. I chose to believe it had a positive purpose in store for me.
Webster’s dictionary defines imagination as : the ability of your brain to imagine things that are not real : the ability to form a picture in your mind of something that you have not ever seen, experienced or wholly perceived in reality.
Imagination is what you want to make it.
For those that truly embrace and practice the idea of living in the present, in the moment—appreciating that the most important time in your life is now, there really isn’t much need for imagination. What’s the point of speculating about a tomorrow that never comes? For those that live in the immediate, there never is a tomorrow—only now.
But for the vast majority of us however, we do plan for tomorrow and we do imagine what our future holds. In doing so, we draw on past experience, observation and our own interpretation of the world to help us imagine how our tomorrow will unfold. Therefore, it becomes very important to understand how we go about creating our imagination.
There are two fundamental influences that form our imagination—one is fear and the other is love. When we allow fear to define our imagination, we imagine the worst, and we risk doing nothing. Better to not act at all and remain stagnate than have something negative happen. But by doing so, we manifest the very thing we want to avoid. By imagining pain and suffering we create that very reality for ourselves—if not actually in the physical sense, then emotionally by sacrificing the achievement of what our soul and our spirit continually thrives for in life. Our journeys are about moving forward and accomplishing growth.
When our imagination is guided by the principle of love, we see our world and our lives with a different purpose. It becomes easier to cast aside fear and find a trust and sense of faith for every challenge we face. Personal suffering is eliminated by acceptance, and obstacles preventing spiritual growth are destroyed. By embracing the love that exists as an energy in the universe for all, you discover a companionship that makes the journey pure bliss.
I recently had two opportunities to experience letting love be the guiding influence of my imagination. And the results have been life-changing.
Moving Day® is the National Parkinson Foundation’s annual fundraising walk event. It is a fun and inspiring day that unites families, friends and communities both large and small in the fight against Parkinson’s disease. These celebrations of movement are held in over twenty-two cities around the United States and feature a family friendly walk course, a kids area, a refreshment tent and a special Movement Pavilion featuring exercises proven to help manage the symptoms of PD.
In each city, participants are encouraged to form a walk team. A team that will work towards raising funds and help generate awareness for the walk, for NPF and their mission, and to enhance the cause for Parkinson’s disease. For me the walk has become so much more.
My team in Chicago is the Martini Shakers. Our captain is my oldest daughter Amanda, and the team name is the product of my sense of humor—upon receiving my diagnosis I often joked that at the very least, I could always be employed as a paint can shaker at a Home Depot or a martini shaker in a local bar. In our first year of participation the Martini Shakers raised well over $13,700 and this year we have already surpassed that mark and have our eyes and imagination set on much greater figure.
But what would become our greatest undertaking for the year was imagining that there could be an outpouring of love and support that would reach well beyond dollars and cents.
What our team took on as our own personal challenge this year, was to not only raise money, but to raise consciousness about people coming together. We made it our goal to enlist an honorary co-captain from each of the fifty United States to be a member of our team in Chicago. For us it was not enough to raise the sense of community on just a local level. We wanted to bring together people nationwide. I wanted to show that there wasn’t anything a person couldn’t accomplish if they allowed themselves to believe it possible; if they imagined it from a place of love.
What has happened is remarkable. We have presently enlisted honorary co-captains for forty-eight of the fifty United States and added representatives for three countries as well with England, Canada and Austria. My wife and I have had the pleasure of meeting with the husband and wife who are representing Canada over drinks in Chicago. My Parkinson’s has created new friendships across borders. I have honorary co-captains representing states, that are readers of this very blog. Friendships that will last my lifetime. What started from an imagination based in love has returned love to me fifty-fold. The ripples go out, the waves come back.
We have two states left to have realized one of our goals. I have no doubt we will. I can already imagine it.
The second opportunity was my book.
Tremors in the Universe is the result of combining love with imagination.
In writing this blog and ultimately the book, I found a voice for expressing feelings of love that reside inside of me. A love that I wanted to share about life, hope and happiness. It gave me an opportunity to express to my children and to others, what I have always felt in my heart about the importance of being kind, compassionate and caring for others and remembering that we all are part of a great connection. And as such it is our responsibility to do what we can to help others who are suffering.
I’ve been remarkably blessed regarding my Parkinson’s disease and I am the first to acknowledge that I am not in the majority. That alone, is driving me to do more for those who cannot and to be a voice for those who may not be comfortable speaking about this disease. Writing has been a medium that has allowed me to raise awareness for those who know little about PD, create hope and inspiration for those who might be newly diagnosed, and compassion for those who suffer. It has also allowed me to show that by choosing to be happy, and by allowing yourself to imagine that ANYTHING is possible, there isn’t anything you cannot accomplish.
I would like to say I never imagined myself being capable of writing a book. But I guess I did.
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I recently had my two-year anniversary appointment at the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation in Chicago, as part of my continuing participation in the PPMI clinical trial which is supported by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. There, my doctor and I reviewed my progress and condition which led to the overall consensus that I am continuing to do remarkably well. That, in turn raised the topic of my positive attitude with my doctor, the chief neurologist in the study, and led to my posing the following observation: I said to Dr. Simuni that I often find myself contemplating whether my continuing positive attitude is a result of my lack of significant symptoms, or whether my continuing lack of significant symptoms is a result of my positive attitude.
Dr. Simuni asked me what I thought was the answer.
"I imagine it’s a little bit of both,” I said. And with that, I gave her a smile.
What I do know is that Parkinson’s disease is going to be eliminated in my lifetime. It will be. And it’s going to happen because of imagination and love. With those two, anything is possible.
More to come.
Tremors in the Universe is now available in paperback and hardcover through Balboa Press @ http://bookstore.balboapress.com/Products/SKU-000956591/Tremors-in-the-Universe.aspx
or at http://www.tremorsintheuniverse.com
A portion of the authors proceeds are being donated to the national parkinson Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
Tremors in the Universe Copyright © 2014 by Robert Baittie
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TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE MARTINI SHAKERS TEAM, PLEASE VISIT: http://www3.parkinson.org/goto/robertbaittie
