b'As the nal step in dening who you are, lets look at your character traits. These arethe hallmarks of your personality, the qualities that you most frequently display. Areyou serious, thoughtful, and honest? Are you cheerful, loud, and aectionate? Are youfunny, clever, and kind? Choose the terms that best describe you, or write in some ofyour own in the marginsAccepting Easy-going Intellectual SexyAdaptable Empathic Intuitive ShyAmiable Enthusiastic Kind SmartAectionate Fearless Loud SpiritualAttentive Friendly Loving StraightforwardBoisterous Funny Loyal StubbornBold Generous Mild TactfulBrave Genuine Neighborly TalentedCaring Good Nurturing ThoughtfulCharismatic\\charming Goofy Outspoken TolerantCharitable Gregarious Playful ToughCheerful Hard-working Quick-thinking TrustworthyClever Helpful Quiet UnderstandingCharitable Honest Resilient WeirdCompassionate Humble Responsible WiseDependable Insightful Sarcastic YieldingDetermined Serious Consider how you show these traits in your daily life. Are there traits that previouslydened you that you feel have been lost to MS? Think about how you can recapturethese. Consider the following examples: 1. Darius always thought of himself as fearless. Before MS, he loved to play footballand participate in adventure sports. Now he has balance and mobility issues thatmake these activities unsafe. Darius decides to take a fearless approach to MS.He pursues aggressive treatment and physical therapy, not caring if others seehim vulnerable, for a chance to reclaim these activities. 2. Rosa considered herself a good, dependable friend in the past, but has startedto feel like she isnt reliable anymore. She nds herself backing out of plansbecause of fatigue and other MS symptoms. Her best friend pointed out thatwhile Rosa cant always keep her commitments to go out together, shes still adependable friend because shes always there to listen. Rosa decides to focuson being a reliable source of support for all her friends and loved ones.Question: Have you lost a trait because of MS. How can you express that trait? What character traits do you feel may have been suppressed by your MS? Whatcan you do to express these parts of your personality? The unique combination of values, skills, knowledge, and character traits that youve nowidentied are the recipe that creates you. Finding ways to use and express these qualitieswill improve your relatedness and increase your feeling of satisfaction in life.5'