My original title to this thought was “The High Value of Low Expectations”.  I realized that it’s not really low expectations, it is acceptance of the situation at hand.  Low expectations hints at giving up.  One can have acceptance of the situation and still try hard and perform well within the new rules of the game.

Plain and simple, I got tired of constantly being upset by my decreasing ability to do the things I used to be very good at and loved.  Something had to change.  I needed a mental strategy.

I had been sitting on this half written thought for a couple of months.  I have already posted things stumbling around the same idea.  Then, just a couple days ago, someone gave me a sheet of quotes by Michael J Fox.

   “The more I expect, the more unhappy I am going to be. The more I accept, the more       serene I am.”

and,

   “My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.”

I find it rather amazing that two people faced with somewhat the same thing, independently come to the same solution.  A testament to how similar we humans are and perhaps, there are some universal truths.

Knowing this and having some success does not mean that all is solved.  I was starting to do pretty well with declining sports, but now that walking and performing everyday things is starting to get challenging, acceptance also is challenging.

I do find that coming up with new, more clever strategies to keep getting on, to be fun and rewarding at times.