What are the deeper implications between becoming mindful and attentive of driving a vehicle or riding in a vehicle? Driving a car or riding in one has a direct analogy to the journey of recovering from Parkinson’s disease. Permit me to explain. When driving, it is almost always the case that we have a very clear and precise destination in mind. Of course that is not always the case, but almost always if we are in the car either driving or riding we are going somewhere. On your journey of recovery from the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, my question to you is:
Where are you headed on your journey?
Is the end goal to see a release of the tension in your right thigh or an elimination of a tremor in your left arm? Do you set for yourself a goal that is actually one that has a negative connotation? In other words, what you really desire is for something that is currently annoying to all of a sudden end and dissolve?
Consider your possible experience with driving to two very different destinations. The first destination is a concert by a musical group that you truly love. You are going to be very motivated to get there. You are going to be energetic. You are going to be happy. You are going to be exhilarated because once you arrive you will be able to enter the concert hall and experience something that you truly and genuinely treasure.
Contrast that destination with a destination of driving to a billing enter which has just wrongly charged you $125 dollars on your internet bill. What is it like to experience driving to that destination? We all are different of course but if you are like me I’m thinking to myself,
“Do I really have to spend this time going to that office appearing in person to straighten this out? I’m really upset and angry about this. I don’t want to waste my day spending my time driving over there and solving something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”
Does that sound familiar? Do you get a feeling for the contrast between those two destinations? It is really very similar to a destination and a goal that you might set for yourself when it comes to recovery. If the intention (and end state goal) is to eliminate a symptom, that is fine and good but it is certainly not anything that you can particularly look forward to. How about setting an end state goal that does serve and fulfill your true passion? Only you know what that might be of course and part of our life’s journey is to sort through and really understand and recognize and acknowledge our true passions.
Speaking personally, I have realized recently that one of my passions is writing short stories. I stopped and thought to myself,
“I need to start writing short stories because I love it!”
It has taken me quite a few years to actually make that statement and engage that behavior. What then is your fondest passion that you have put on the shelf for reasons that more than like do not make a lot of sense? Let me just give one example of a possible passion that perhaps one or even more of you might have.
Suppose your passion is to paint. You want to begin to paint again. You have some challenges, some difficulties with painting now given that some of the symptoms are making that more challenging. The end goal then is to paint. Once the goal is established, a goal that dos have energetic juice, consider the journey to be a lot like driving where you are attentive and present to each and every moment. The end goal is to paint. A recognition is made; you no longer have any paint brushes to use. The decision on this journey is to acquire some paint brushes. So you get in the car and mindfully drive to the art store. Perhaps this is all you can accomplish for this day or this week or even this month. It is a small segment of a very long journey because you know that the end result, the end goal is to return to what you truly love; which is painting.
Consider what end state goals you set for yourself. Once they are set ask yourself,
“Am I rushing like a mad person to achieve that goal just as I drive like a mad person to get to the destinations that I set for myself?”
Chances are there is little difference between the two.
Recognize and acknowledge your habits of driving will give you incredibly rich information about your own approach to recovering from whatever symptoms you might currently experience that are associated with the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Becoming mindful of this journey to achieve your end goal to accomplish your passion means you are attentive and mindful to each and every moment of that journey. Yes, the journey might last a month or two months or even three or four months before you are even in a position to begin to start painting. Each and every day, each and every hour, each and every second you were attentive and mindful to what you needed to do for yourself to be in a position where yes, you could finally manifest your passion.
In summary, ask yourself, what are you end goal states? What is it that you are driving to achieve and how are you actually preceding to get there in the vehicle that you have chosen? Your vehicle of course is your body.
Robert
© Parkinsons Recovery