Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson’s Disease, was interviewed recently by the AARP Magazine. He described six rules for surviving adversity, including exercise, pacing, acceptance, honesty, optimism, and humor.

1. EXERCISE  Especially if you have Parkinson’s disease. “We’ve learned it will prolong your ability to operate positively in the world.
2. PACING  “It helps me think – the physical motion creates intellectual motion.”
3. ACCEPTANCE  “It isn’t resignation, and it freed me to actively deal with and endeavor to change my situation.  I like to say, ‘My happiness goes in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.”
4. HONESTY  Don’t remain silent or ashamed about illness.  Once Fox went public with his condition, he says, ”it was empowering to have people understand what I was going through – I immediately felt better.”
5. OPTIMISM  “I hate when people say, ‘You’re giving them false hope.’ To me, hope is informed optimism.”
6. HUMOR  “I laugh at [my involuntary movement and the scenes they create]. There are times when I love these things.