Jack Osbourne, "Adapt and Overcome"

Today in the media, I saw several entertainment headlines stating that Jack Osbourne has been diagnosed with multiple schlerosis, shortly after giving birth to a baby girl two months ago with his fiancee. In one article, he made a statement (in regards to his new diagnosis) that caught my eye:

“I got really sad for about two days, and after that I realized being angry and upset is not going to do anything at this point — if anything it’s only going to make it worse,” Osbourne told Hello! “Adapt and overcome’ is my new motto.”

I know very little about the Osbourne's family and Jack himself but I was so awe struck by his words that I cannot help but admire him in how he is coping with all of this devastating news. Sometimes it is so easy to fixate on those negative questions in your head that repeatedly tug at your mind – why me? Why now? Why this?- when it comes to medical issues. It can be so easy to dwell on the misfortune of having somehow acquired the problem in the first place that sometimes people forget to reach above and beyond it. The grieving process is certainly an essential part of coping with any illness, and it can come and go in waves, but it is severely problematic if one gets stuck in the grieving process permanently. Eventually, it is important to recognize the situation for what it is, to look at the reality and then decide how to proceed with your life in the most productive manner possible given the circumstances.

It's awesome that Jack is being so open with the emotional aspect of his diagnosis, hopefully his words reach others in similar situations and can inspire them to adopt his motto of “adapt and overcome.”