Gracie, the Golden Retriever, sits enthralled as she watches the antics of Blackberry, the bunny. Blackberry seems to know that he’s being watched, so his frittering from here to there in his confined space appears to be a direct desire to either show off or more probably to chase his observer away. Soon Gracie loses interest in the antics and yawns her way back to her comfortable pallet sprawled awkwardly before the office door. Blackberry settles down and finds his way momentarily into his roughly crafted cardboard playhouse. Silence ensues for the moment and all is well in the world of pets. Suddenly, Blackberry erupts again in a scurry from water bottle, to feeding dish, to cardboard shelter and elicits another intense interest from Gracie, arousing her once more from her perch. The commotion is of short duration as the two again go back to their routines as pooch and bunny, coexisting calmly in the farmhouse. So it is with Parkinson’s symptoms. An attention getting tremor overtakes a limb and demands attention to its seemingly random antics. Sometimes a tug or twist following a concentrated intent is sufficient to quiet its panicked arousal. At other times, not even stuffing it between the leg and the seat cushion is enough to hold it down. Often the more attention it is given the greater its apparent intensity. Taking action in the direction of a short walk, catching up on some reading or accomplishing a needed chore moves attention away from the uninvited visitor. Having lost its audience, the tremor seems to also lose its potency as devilish detractor from an otherwise calm and collected existence. Letting go of attention to the distracting antics seems to be the antidote to the untimely tremor. Likewise, giving attention to the things one can control or contribute often serves as a remedy for the seemingly uncontrollable. Sometimes inattention is the better intention!
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