b'Finding Your Place In the MS CommunityDear Reader, Does being diagnosed with MS alter how you think about yourself? It would be surprising if it didnt. After all, MS can affect the basic building blocks upon which your self-image beganhow you move, think, and feel. From the time you were born, your growth was measured in these three areas. Your family celebrated movement milestoneswhen you took your rst wobbly steps, learned to ride a bike, or had your rst dance recital.Your teachers praised your thinking ability when you scored well on a test or showed good judgment. Your friends connected with you over shared feelings and interests. The positive feedback you received likely caused you to embrace these qualities as part of your personal identity. Perhaps you thought of yourself in terms such as athletic, smart, positive, graceful, strong, quick-witted, or happy-go-lucky.Now with MS, those aspects that rst formed your self-image may have been altered. You might have gone from having a quick, condent stride to a slow and unsteady gait. While you might have been a debate team star in college, you might now struggle to nd words. You may have been known for your upbeat personality, but now nd yourself experiencing MS-related depression. Surely, these kinds of changes are bound to alter how you think about yourself. Even if you havent experienced signicant changes in your movement, thinking, or emotions, just the idea of having a chronic illness can be a signicant shift in the way you think about yourself, and about your future. Where before, you might have been condent about the path your life would take, now you live with the uncertainty that MS brings. You may also worry about what others thinksuch as employers, potential romantic partners, your childrenor what they will think if you experience a relapse or progression of your MS.In the face of such a life-altering diagnosis, some people do their best to avoid thinking about it. They try to live their life as though nothing has changed, until forced by an MS symptom to confront the reality. But trying to live as though MS hasnt changed you is like stubbornly wearing shoes youve outgrown; it causes you pain and can do lasting damage in the long run.On the other side of the coin, some people come to view MS as their whole identity. They throw themselves into the MS community at the expense of their other interests and relationships. Over time, they nd that they lack the internal resources they need to avoid burnout.How do you nd a new and balanced view of yourself? How do you incorporate MS into your identity without letting it become your identity? And how do you nd 1'