Giving up (oh, really?)

A post on Lifehacker today talked about how "giving up may sometimes be the best solution to a problem." Following its link to the author's complete post, he says, "When I give up, I accept life as it is."

I cannot speak for the author or his process. But, if you're an anime fan like I am, this may bring to mind an episode of Boogiepop Phantom, where a little girl says exactly that... and a shout from beyond the grave stops her short:

"Liar!"

Talk is cheap. There's a very, very thin line between the delusion of acceptance and denial. Actually, there isn't a line. They're the same thing. The delusion of acceptance is the lovely golden bow that denial ties around the embrace of darkness that it truly is.

And, it's possible to give up, roll over, and wait for death. Even "accepting the world as it is."

I'd rephrase this completely. Don't embrace the defective, or the destructive--especially the self-destructive. Open your hands, let it go, and embrace the alternative.

Nice idea on paper, isn't it. I know that for some people, it's quite doable.

Not for me.

And the MS road constantly brings me face to face with things that need to be released. Not "brings face to face," but "puts in my face," things that need releasing so that I can receive the alternative.

The struggle with that really puts the dis-ease into disease.

MS is a hell of a thing, ain't it?

Especially when your life with MS is trying to show you the way OUT of hell.