Your post was the most uplifting thing I have read in some time. I wanted to write back immediately, but I was swamped with other things. My response may seem a little disjointed, but bear with me.

Sometimes for fun I do cryptograms. Last week I attempted one which was very difficult to solve - not because I could not get that first clue, but rather because there were so many feasible ways to go. Parkinson's is little like that. There are so many solutions to such a variety of symptoms that sometimes we get lost not because there is no relief in sight but rather because there is a myriad of choices. Take Sinemet,don't take Sinemet is only the first challenge.

Like you, I also get so immersed in the Parkinson's arena that I don't realize there is a world out there which I have eschewed because I have to solve this damn Parkinson's puzzle, or cryptogram, if you will. A tactic with a built in failure button.

The notion that I am going to get progressively worse causes me great anxiety, but the fact of the matter is that the perception is worse than the reality. I have had this diagnosis for 13 years. During those 13 years, at times I have doubted I had it, despaired that I had it, ignored that I had it, tried to cure it, been angry that I had it and eventually just wanted to throttle the disease right out of my life. However, I never have accepted it.
I find that your approach of not allowing yourself to be sentenced to going downhill gives hope. Just get up and dance, carry a heavy chair, stand in front of a class and speak, join a gym. What the heck are we waiting for?

A long time ago someone wrote in a post that each day when she does some physical task, she tells herself that if she could accomplish it that day, she will be able to do the same thing tomorrow. Your post made me realize that whatever I want to do,I should just do it. As for life, as the TV commercial says, "It's on!"

Thanks for your thoughts.

Ann