As I look back over 2015 I can’t help count my blessings and if I compare my situation to those around me I think I’m doing ok. It seems that whilst many people around me are unravelling my life seems to be fairly stable and happy.

I have one dear friend, for example, who’s been hospitalised with alcoholism over Christmas. He was a party animal but no more than the rest of us and alcohol dependency crept up on him like a ninja. Before he knew it he couldn’t go a day without alcohol, his body fitting in protest if he tried. He has now detoxed and is motivated and determined to stay clean of alcohol but he has a long way to go before he would describe himself as “recovered” He is strong and has a large support network around him and I admire his courage enormously.

Another of my dear friends is going through a marriage break up following a self-confessed mid-life crisis after her 40^th birthday. She looked at her life and realised she couldn’t stay married anymore and has been living under the same roof as her estranged husband while they wait for the sale of the house to go through. I don’t know how she’s kept her sanity trying to paint a smile on her face for the sake of her daughter’s Christmas whilst her marriage implodes around her.

I have other friends desperate for babies, having affairs or waiting for life changing test results and feel glad at the hand I’ve been dealt! It’s crazy that I’d rather keep my MS than swap with their problems and issues but that’s how I feel!

It’s not that I’m judging other people or think my life is any better it’s just that I’ve realised that we all have our problems. The older my friends and I get the more things can go wrong and the more difficult life can get. It also reinforces the belief I’ve had before that having MS is not the end of the world and there are far worse things to deal with.

I’m also lucky that my MS hasn’t got any worse in the last 12 months. Strangely, since I’ve now been re-diagnosed with RRMS and am back on DMT’s my MS has actually improved! At least on paper!

So, I have made some resolutions I feel will improve my life such as exercise more, be stricter with my diet and drink less alcohol but I also resolve to count my blessings and look forward to everything 2016 has to offer.

Happy New Year!