No Time Like the Future

Happy Birthday, Michael J. Fox

Happy Birthday, Michael J Fox! I just love that guy. Like many people, I first met him when he played the cocky young Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties. I’ve seen him in other acting roles but that’s not how I know him. I know him through his four memoirs. Each one of those books captured my attention and made me a better person.

His latest memoir is No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality. I had been inspired by Fox’s previous three memoirs but the title of this one hinted at something even deeper. I am a seeker/philosopher type so the word mortality in the title sealed the deal. I would be reading this one as well.

Before the age of thirty, the medical establishment had handed Fox the harsh diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. His previous memoirs addressed how the course of his life had been influenced by this turn of events. In this fourth memoir, Fox is confronted not only with the continued debilitating effects of PD but also the discovery and progression of a spinal cord tumor. His other memoirs have flagged Fox’s impressive loyalty to optimism but can he sustain that loyalty in the face of the additional challenge? Believe it or not, his story gets worse.

Early in the book, Fox acknowledges that he and PD had come to an understanding that required adaptability and resilience. The tumor and the high risk surgery necessary to stop its progression required further negotiation for Fox. I marvel at his ability to continue to negotiate with life. Frankly, I don’t know that I would have either his resilience or his optimism, let alone both of those qualities. The spinal cord surgery recovery is arduous but he perseveres only to be suffer yet another setback.

I can relate to this observation of his:

“There really is a butterfly effect; one small incident, one tiny insignificant event, can have a reverberating effect on the future. You make a sloppy turn into a doorway, and everything changes. You position your arm to break a fall, and it impacts countless lives….and so it goes.”

I imagine we all know that experience when one small move results in one great upheaval. I can get bogged down in regret and “what ifs” but I need to notice how Fox takes it in stride: “And so it goes”.

In the last third of the book, Fox gets real. He acknowledges that optimism had been his winning strategy through his entire adult life but, facing more adversity, leaves him numb and fresh out of hope. It’s a low place to be. Michael finds his way out. He is clear: “I don’t want to live like this but I have found a way to accept the fact that I do.” With a strategy that make sense and inspires, Michael J. Fox shows how it is possible to be both a realist and an optimist. I think that is an essential skill in today’s world.