QUICK APOLOGY – part ??

I had promised a three part series on how we should be like Muhammad Ali when it comes to fighting Parkinson’s Disease. I figured to write the articles in a couple of days. I have joined the Rock Steady Boxing group in Chelsea, Michigan, which helps us KO Parkinson’s from our lives. I thought we could take Ali as an example of a man who had to overcome adversity to achieve all that he did.

The problem is, I don’t know as much about Muhammad Ali as I thought I did. Much of what I thought I knew was wrong. I went looking for a few good quotes and soon realized what an amazing man he was. The more I read the more I liked and respected him.

I believe that the series is going to be much better than it would have been if I hadn’t taken the time to do the necessary research. Let me give you one example that shows how the truth is better than fiction.

We’ve all seen the photograph of Ali standing over Sonny Liston who is lying at his feet, unconscious. We can tell that Ali is yelling but I never knew what he was saying. I always assumed he was screaming, “I am the greatest!!!” NOPE!!! WRONG ANSWER. What do you think he is actually saying???

The truth is, Ali is extremely angry because he is convinced that Liston has taken a dive. The fight is in the second minute of the first round and Ali has only thrown a few punches. What he is yelling is something along the lines of, “Get up and fight!! Don’t just lie there, get up and fight!!!”

A lot of us feel like Liston. Parkinson’s has knocked us down and we’re not sure we have what it takes to get back up. Suddenly we hear a voice yelling at us, “Don’t just lay there and die!! GET UP AND FIGHT!!!”

The choice is ours. We can listen to the voice inside our head that wants others to pity us. The voice that encourages us to stay down. No one understands how unfair a hand life has dealt us, it says.

Or we can listen to a man who understands what we’re going through because he has been there. Ali was knocked down again and again and has demonstrated that you Never, Never, NEVER just lay there. You always pick yourself up and FIGHT!

The choice is before us: fight or die. This is not just a one-time choice. Rather you may be knocked down multiple times a day. However, if you keep getting up it will become second nature to you. Once that happens you won’t even think about it, you will automatically pick yourself up and move forward.

I hope that you will never just lay down and die. I pray that you will fight, and that many years from now those who love you will speak at your funeral about what an amazing person you were. They will share how just remembering you, encourages them to stay in the fight and never give in.

That, my dear friend, is a heritage worth passing on.

Once again I apologize for taking so long to write this series. The research is almost finished and the article is taking shape. I hope it blesses you.

A bit of DAD humor…… I went to the grocery store the other day and was shocked at the price of a dozen eggs. I had another surprise when I opened the carton and saw that they were brown. For that price I thought they would be gold.