Paul Betney

I’ve had Parkinson’s Disease for over 25 years, but I am not a Parkinson’s Warrior.

I am not a Parkinson’s Warrior, because Warriors need a War and Parkinson’s is not a War to me. Parkinson’s is a disease that I have.

If we frame things in our minds as a War, then that is what they will become and making Parkinson’s a War serves no purpose for me. No one wins a war. Warriors never leave the battlefield. They either fall there or the scars they collect change them forever and seldom for the better. And I don’t want to be changed.

Parkinson’s is not a War to me, because Wars are fought out of fear and I am not afraid of Parkinson’s Disease.

Parkinson’s is not a War for me, because Wars are fought against enemies who malevolently seek to destroy us, but Parkinson’s is not my enemy. Parkinson’s is just a biological, chemical error.

It is not my enemy, because it does not plot and scheme against me. It is not sentient.

Parkinson’s is not my enemy, because it does not have the power of an enemy.

It does not have the power of an enemy, because enemies shape and define us, they make us hate, they make us fear, they make us sacrifice who we are and what we love and Parkinson’s does none of those things to me.

I am not a Parkinson’s Warrior, because I am not at war.

I am not at war, because I am at peace.

I am at peace…

…because I am me.

And I like me.