Author Archives: Ari Anderson

You have to be in an introspective mood to examine your own flaws and weaknesses. It takes both maturity and courage, neither of which come easy. I don’t like to do it any more than all of you, but bravery is often rewarded with riches beyond comparison. By…

In my previous column, I discussed how difficult times can help strengthen the qualities of patience and endurance. But life lessons can be learned even when we’re not going through a crisis. It may take going through terrible events first, but it’s up to each of us whether…

Simply put, I refuse to let the wind of negativity blow me down. My faith in God empowers me to keep the light of positivity shining during and after the storms of SMA. It’s a miraculous thing when you can envision yourself on the other side of…

Thank you Joanne! I pray that God meets all of Zack and your needs as well. Blessings!…

Thinking about parallel universes can be scary. Sometimes, though, it’s necessary to think about the scary what-ifs in order to be more aware of the positive things in life. More on this in a minute. For my friend and fellow columnist Halsey Blocher and me, looking at the bright…

SMA Awareness Month is coming up in August. The question for me is, what’s the best way to raise awareness about this disease? My thoughts are that it is best to share that sometimes life can get a little dark for those of us with SMA. Over the…

One day about 15 years ago, I was watching a funny show. It was lighthearted and entertaining, yet one comment made me think seriously. It still does. A person said, “I heard that computers were a fad!” Obviously, it was a joke. However, I thought to myself, “Where would I…

At first glance, my life may seem unusual. The more people get to know me, though, the more they’ll see that I share many of the same problems and emotions that most others have. Like everyone, I’ve experienced the death of loved ones. But I’ve also experienced loss in…

Here comes the latest adventure in the saga to remove my kidney stones. Spoiler alert: I came close to leaping over the hurdle of getting the surgery done. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t quite make it to the operating room. Relax. The reason had nothing to do with…

While reflecting on my life today, a witty phrase popped into my head. I laughed to myself as I thought, “I don’t have to go looking for trouble, trouble will find me.” As I’ve said before, if I didn’t have a sense of humor about some things, I…