The Year I Stopped Making Resolutions …
And Started Something Better
Every January used to feel like a fresh start.
Before MS, I was that woman with a shiny list of resolutions:
Lose a few kilos. Exercise more. Be more productive. Say yes to everything.
You know the drill… the kind of list you write with hope and abandon by February.
Then came my diagnosis.
And suddenly, the idea of “self-improvement” felt almost cruel.
For two years, I didn’t make a single resolution.
How could I?
When your body feels like a stranger, when fatigue hijacks your plans, when your future looks nothing like you imagined… what do you even aim for?
I wasn’t thinking about goals.
I was trying to survive depression.
Trying to make peace with a life that felt smaller while everyone else’s kept expanding — careers, weddings, babies.
Meanwhile, my calendar was filled with neurologist appointments and days lost to exhaustion.
Hope? It felt like a luxury I couldn’t afford.
But slowly, it crept back in.
Not the loud, ambitious kind.
A softer hope.
The kind that whispers: Maybe life isn’t over. Maybe it’s just… different.
My first “resolution” wasn’t glamorous.
It was this: Leave the house once in a while with my best friend.
No pressure. No guilt. Just showing up when I could.
Later came another:
Respect my gentle workout plan, not to prove anything, but to reconnect with my body instead of fighting it.
These weren’t Instagram-worthy goals.
But they mattered.
Because for the first time, my intentions weren’t based on who I used to be.
They were based on where I actually was.
That’s when I realized:
Traditional resolutions didn’t fail me because I lacked discipline.
They failed because they ignored my reality.
So I stopped asking:
What should I achieve this year?
And started asking:
What do I want more of?
What supports my body instead of draining it?
What rhythm lets me live — not just cope?
That shift changed everything.
It moved me from rigid goals to compassionate choices.
From chasing an old version of myself to honoring the woman I am now.
And that’s why I created MS Clarity: Finding Your Way with MS — not to hand you another checklist, but to help you discover your own starting point.
Because living with MS doesn’t mean giving up on growth.
It means choosing a different way forward — one rooted in awareness, kindness, and rhythm.
And that, my friend, is where real change begins.
Vanessa
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