I really want to befuddle people. I really want them to walk away saying, "Maybe these things I have been thinking are subjective realities. Maybe I construct the world this way and think it has to be this way. Maybe I can look at how I'm doing that, and once I take responsibility for my attitudes being in control, then I can feel comfortable about checking my attitude." I do this mostly by using a lot of humor. I sort of make fun of the way all of us look at things.

I pick up more from people in my daily life than from the experts because there has to be a level of integrity. I can't tell when I'm reading literature what a person is like. I have to see that person living his or her life.

I used to play the guitar. Well, I can't use my right hand so I can't really play the guitar any more. So this winter I started playing the piano. I get every bit as much enjoyment out of playing the piano with just my left hand as I did playing the guitar. When I sit down at the piano, it's a new experience. I don't play it well, I'm not where I was with the guitar. I'm back 20 years ago with that same sense of enjoyment and excitement.

I think I succeeded through my body before MS began to manifest itself. Most of my satisfaction came from athletic accomplishments, riding, running. Any sport was my passion. I kind of lived in my body, my body was kind of what I gave to the world. Then the MS called that into question. I needed to reform myself.

I used to believe that success was rooted in your determination, but now I know that there are things over which you have no control, and that's been very helpful. To really understand that has helped me connect in ways to the rest of the human race that have been wonderful. I mean, I can sit with people and really understand that they are stuck.

I can't think of a way that's more effective for me to be in service for others than to help them raise their potential, to be one of life's cheerleaders. If someone says, "I want to try," I want to be the first one to say, "Yeah, you can."

I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. MS is a kind of insidious thing. But there's a part of me that doesn't worry about the disability. My mother told me a story: my sister and I were going to have our tonsils out. My mother said I kept dragging her to the doctor's office and to get new pajamas. I had this attitude: it's an experience, like I've never done this before, won't this be nice. My mother says, "That's basically the way you picture life. You sit here and talk about MS the way you talked about going to get your tonsils out. You're going, 'It's going to be a new experience.'"... I love new experiences.