As you probably know, Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease more then 10 years ago. Since the diagnosis he has written two books, the most recent being Always Looking Up, which inspired this documentary. You can view the special at ABC.com, which I recommend, but here are a few impressions I got from watching it.
Fox interviewed Lance Armstrong about his battle with Cancer. During the course of the interview Armstrong said something that really stood out for me. He said that he owes his life to Cancer. It is a strange statement on the surface, but after thinking about it for a while, I began to embrace the idea. I owe my life to PSC.
Yes, PSC almost killed me twice, but I am still here. In fact, I would have to say that I am a better person and live a better life because of it. Having spent so much time on the bottom, I strive and crave for the time I have on the top. I am trying to squeeze every drop out of every day that I possibly can.
Throughout the film, there are several short interactions with his wife, but one jumped out at me. Fox asks his wife what it is like living with such an optimist. Her answer could have been almost exactly the same if my wife were asked the same question. She says that she sometimes needs to look at the worst cases scenario just to prepare herself for it if it happens. This has caused more then one, lets call them interesting moments, when we looked at the same situation with completely opposite views.
As previously mentioned, a section of the documentary was filmed at Wrigley Field in Chicago, where I was born and raised a Die Hard Cubs fan. (Quick history lesson: The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908, making it the longest streak of not winning a championship of any team in any major professional support.) Despite the Cubs astronomical levels of futility, Cubs fans (myself included) still come out to Wrigley Field in droves, and passionately follow every pitch of every game even when they can't get ticket to the game. And for some unknown reason, we always think that this year will be the year that we win it. 101 next years and counting. If that is not optimism, I don't know what is.
To be honest with you, I think I owe a portion of my extreme optimism to being a Cubs fan. I spent my summers growing up at Wrigley Field, waiting, wishing, hoping that the Cubs would win the World Series. I know in the grand scheme of things, it is not that big of a deal, but it is big enough. After year after year of being let down, I had a choice to make. I could accept the fact that they may never win, which would in turn take a lot of fun out of watching baseball, or I could stick with the Cubs fans motto; Wait Till Next Year. Here I am. Still waiting.
Of course my life experiences have also had a huge effect on my optimism. Between my wife and I, we have had 7 surgeries in a little over ten years . We have both almost died twice. Some people would take these events and focus on the negative. For some reason, I look at the positive. It comes down to a choice really. We did not choose to get cancer or liver disease. We had no control over that. I do have control over how I react to the situations that life throws at me. I choose to react with my head held high, a smile on my face, and a bounce in my step.
Now if you will excuse me, I have to go watch the Cubs game and then check my lottery numbers. I think we both may win.
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