The following post contains affiliate links, which sends me a small percentage of any sales at no cost to you.
It’s a fresh week! I am starting to really look forward to Mondays, mainly because there’s structure, and because over the weekends, I miss all of the stuff I listen to during the week! I listen to lots of Sirius XM content and daily podcasts… it’s too early for my shows now, but as I type this, I’m listening to an audiobook.
I also tried something this weekend I’ve never done: I didn’t check my email one time.
Radical, right? I have the gmail app on my phone and I honestly have just gotten into this bad habit — pretty much mindless — of constantly checking my email. Even if there’s no client emails in there, or even if I tell myself that I’m not going to acknowledge client emails, it all subconsciously gives me anxiety.
So, when I was done working Friday around 5:30, I just thought, “Yeah, I’m not going to check my email this weekend.”
And honestly, it felt really, really nice… so that’s my new self-care.
Anyway, let’s jump into the book, because it’s a goodie: “No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality” by Michael J. Fox.
Full disclosure: I am not a huge Michael J. Fox fan. I don’t dislike him at all, I just haven’t watched much of the stuff he’s done. Yes, I’ve seen “Back to the Future,” but I’m not obsessed over Marty McFly like I know many are… Actually, at the last 9-5 job I had, someone dressed up as the character for Halloween.
A few 9-5 jobs before that (ha), it was the actual day they visit in the movie — October 21, 2015 — so they had a celebration during lunch and let us watch the movie in the conference room (complete with free Pepsi).
Other than that, though, I didn’t know much about Fox. But, a few Sundays ago, he was on “Sunday TODAY,” which is my favorite news program. The interview he did with Willie Geist was so sweet.
Seriously, if you don’t already watch this show, add it to your queue and thank me later. There’s also a podcast if you’re an audio person.
The interview made me want to read this book.
The book does discuss Fox’s career, including some of the works that made him popular, like “Family Ties” and “Spin City.” He doesn’t talk extensively about his work, though.
A majority of the book is about his journey with Parkinson’s, and wow, it’s a wonder to read. I knew very little about the disease before picking up this book, but I appreciated all of the inside information here.
A Parkinson’s-related injury is what led Fox to write this book. He’s struggled with the disease for nearly 30 years and has remained optimistic, but how? And how do you remain optimistic when every single step is a struggle?
Memorable Quotes from ‘No Time Like the Future’
- Much more difficult to acknowledge and accept is the diminishment of movement. Absent a chemical intervention, Parkinson’s will render me frozen, immobile, stone-faced, and mute — entirely at the mercy of my environment. For someone whom motion equals emotion, vibrancy, and relevance, it’s a lesson in humanity.
- I have to show up — although it would be so easy not to. Some days, I’m done with it all. I don’t want to acknowledge what’s worse today, or what will inevitably get worse down the road. It’s exhausting to parse out what is Parkinson’s, and what is attributable to other factors. Some things I can’t do because I’m 58. Is that old age? It was when I was 21, which feels like five minutes ago.
- But we can only live our own lives. In my life, at this moment, I am stretched by what I have to deal with. I’m at a new place, with new thoughts. I’m thinking about my messed-up balance and all the rest of it — a very real setback for me. Now I’ve been pelted with too many lemons to even think about lemonade.
- When I visit the past now, it is for wisdom and experience, not for regret or shame. I don’t attempt to erase it, only to accept it. Whatever my physical circumstances are today, I will deal with them and remain present. If I fall, I will rise up. As for the future, I haven’t been there yet. I only know that I have one. Until I don’t.
- As impossible as it is to imagine, there are fragments of hope in the wreckage, as well as things to be grateful for. Indeed, good things can come from bad things.
I really enjoyed this book! I think I would have loved it even more if I were a huge Fox fan when I started, but now I want to watch all of his work. I already found “Family Ties” on Amazon Prime 🙂
For more book recommendations, be sure to subscribe to the blog (look to the right) and follow me on Goodreads @thebitterlemon – where I share more of my book picks. Also, check out my printable bookmarks and Book Club Journal Pages in my Etsy Shop.
The Bitter Lemon 
One Comment