Good days and bad days. I struggle with this saying even though it puts things into perspective. In my mind this is the kind of phrase said about my Grandmother with Alzheimer’s, not my Mom with MS. It is a phrase people use to speak about their elderly relatives, their aging grandparents, not my 59 year old Mom. But at the same time, it works. It is an easy way to sum up this life I am living with Mom’s MS. It is an easy phrase for me to focus on, so I don’t get frustrated by the turn of events that can occur in one day.

I was home visiting my parents this past weekend. Friday night when I arrived Mom was doing great. Her physical therapist Coach C was there and she was doing her exercises and in a good mood. On Saturday, Dad, Mom and I went to lunch and then Grandpa came over for pizza and to watch college football. Our college team won in a 4th quarter finish after playing horrible the entire time. It was an exciting and fun evening.

But, Sunday was different. From the moment Mom woke up Sunday she seemed off. She seemed to not be moving around very well. Very tired. Just “out of it.” We picked up lunch and took it to my Grandpa’s house to eat before I left town. She was very tired and wanted to lay down. She didn’t talk too much. It was just strange and tough and weird. I was thinking how did we go from yesterday’s great day to this barely 24 hours later.

The only explanation- good days and bad days. I don’t want to admit Mom has good days and bad days. To me it means everyday there is a chance it could be a bad day. I can’t assume it will be a good day. I also have to learn to deal with the bad days. Learn to react, not let them bother me,and not take them so personally. It all ties back to taking life “one day at a time.” By saying there are good days and bad days you are essentially making a commitment to taking life one day at a time. Because you don’t know if it will be a good day or a bad day. But I am selfish and I want all good days. I don’t want the possibility of bad days. I also don’t want to use the same phrase so often associated with people’s elderly relatives. I don’t like Mom being lumped into that category because people so often do it. But unfortunately for me, the bottom line is that’s what this was- it was a bad day.

I need to find a way to not only tell myself this to believe it – Mom had a bad day. It’s going to happen and it’s okay when it does. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just a bad day. There will be more good days just like there will be more bad days. Take it one day at a time.

Have you every struggled with the phrase “good days and bad days”? Do you believe it’s important to remember to keep things in perspective when dealing with a disease like MS? Do you find yourself prone to catastrophic thinking sometimes…where one bad day means a million more bad days? Are you as frustrated with me as I am that I can’t seem to just take life “one day at a time”?