Michael J. Fox is urging us to be grateful for our blessings, big and small.
“If you don’t think you have anything to be grateful for, keep looking,” he said in a 2021 interview with AARP. “Because you don’t just receive optimism. You can’t wait for things to be great and then be grateful for that. You’ve got to behave in a way that promotes that.”
Fox would know a little something about practicing optimism; the BACK TO THE FUTURE actor was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, but has never stopped looking on the bright side.
“[I’ve had a] very good life,” he told CBS in 2023. “I recognize how hard this is for people, and I recognize how hard it is for me. But I have a certain set of skills that allow me to deal with this stuff. And I realized, with gratitude, optimism is sustainable. And if you can find something to be grateful for, then you can find something to look forward to, and you carry on.”
He has become one of the most outspoken supporters of those suffering from the disease, and his Michael J. Fox Foundation has raised $1.5 billion for Parkinson’s research.
Related: How Michael J. Fox Went From ‘Pain, Regret’ to Gratitude
In 2023, the organization announced they had developed a biomarker test that could mean faster diagnosis and treatment.
“This changes everything,” Fox told CBS of the announcement. “I know with where we are right now, in five years they will be able to tell if they have it, be able to tell if they’re ever gonna get it, we’ll know how to treat it.”
In a 2021 interview with People, Fox admitted that he has had moments of darkness; specifically, after undergoing spinal surgery in 2018 and then breaking his arm shortly after.
“I felt so sorry for myself in that moment, lying on the floor, a bag of bones,” the actor told the outlet. “And I thought, ‘Who am I to tell people to cheer up? Because this sucks.’”
However, Fox said he ultimately “realized I could find gratitude. You can be a realist and an optimist at the same time. If I don’t accept it, I can’t move forward.”
“Every day is different. The circle [of what I can do] gets smaller,” he said. “But I’m happy I’ve found things in the middle of the circle that can’t be touched, like my family and the time I have with them.”
Fox’s words are a reminder that we always have something to be grateful for in our lives, no matter what.
Read Next: ‘Absence of Fear is Faith’: Michael J. Fox Discusses Life with Parkinson’s
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