Shadow and light do co-exist

 

On the Road to Acceptance

Like many people, when you first discovered you had diabetes you may have experienced a profound sense of loss. You may have felt that spontaneity had left your life. This is not uncommon, nor is experiencing the 5 stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance — as you learn to integrate diabetes into your life. What’s important is traveling through the stages and arriving at the final one, where diabetes is not your enemy but a part of you and how you live.

Denial is a common reaction to diabetes. At times denial can protect us, but not when it comes to diabetes. If you can’t admit you have diabetes, you will not put the appropriate effort into managing it.

Anger often follows denial. You feel, I don’t deserve diabetes! It’s not fair!!!Anger creates enormous stress on your body, mind and spirit.

Next may come bargaining. “Oh, please, if you take away my diabetes, I’ll never complain again…”  But bargaining will not make diabetes go away.

Depression is very common with diabetes. You feel, Why bother? It’s too much. What’s the point? Like denial, if you are suffering from depression, it is almost impossible to take care of your diabetes.

Acceptance is the last stage of grieving and the first in turning a new page. You feel you can take care of your diabetes and live a happy life, regardless of its presence.

Just as life has cycles, so too will living with diabetes. There’ll be stormy periods and then the sun will come out again. You may move through a stage and then fall back in unexpectedly.

Don’t be surprised when this happens. Just make sure that you give grief the heave-ho as soon as you can. There comes a natural time to let go of grieving so you can move on and successfully begin managing your diabetes.

Give Up the Guilts

People with diabetes often live with a good deal of guilt. You may think you actually caused your diabetes by eating too many sweets. (That’s not how one gets diabetes). Type 2 diabetes tends to be genetic, and type 1 is an autoimmune disorder.

You may feel guilty if you do not expertly manage the many tasks diabetes requires. But even experts say this can be difficult. Since guilt is not productive, appreciate that diabetes is not an exact science; no matter how hard you work at controlling it, at times it will foil you. Keep your spirits up and experiment with different practices.

Guilt steals your energy; it robs you of feeling happy and contented, being truly present for your loved ones, and above all it interferes with your taking care of your diabetes. Let the guilt go. Know that you will have good days and bad, including days you’ll overeat, are too tired to exercise, will shout at your spouse, and receive blood sugar numbers you don’t like. Just make sure those days don’t turn into weeks and months.

Diabetes is not who you are; it is something you are learning to live with. It does not make you damaged, or broken, or unlovable, or any less a person. It’s not easy being on patrol 24/7, 365 days a year.

Love yourself more fully because you are doing your best, whatever that happens to be right now. Forgive yourself when things go awry. And accept yourself as the uniquely amazing person you are with all your gifts, and yes faults, too.

Living with diabetes takes extra energy, awareness and commitment to your health. So open your heart and let yourself in all the way. When you do, you’ll discover you have an infinite supply of love and resourcefulness to support you every day, even living with diabetes.

The spirit is within you

 

Well, I would have said “Gone Fishing” but I never have. Rather, I’m off to Holland for 12 days, heading to the airport today. Since I’m in book mode lately, and going on a brief blogging-break, I thought I’d share some reading material from The ABCs Of Loving Yourself With Diabetes in my absence. The true benefit of self-publishing a book and having a blog.

This and the next two posts are pages from the book. I hope they give you renewed vitality and assurance (if you need them) to do just a little better than you’ve been doing managing your diabetes. I also hope they give you some peace and appreciation for who you are and that you manage a condition every day. 

Someone said to me recently, we are not ill. We were before and upon our diagnosis, but now it’s more accurate to say we live with a condition. A cde also said to me, How we live with that condition either makes us either better.

Let Your Energy Lift You

Often in life, even when you don’t know how you’re going to accomplish something, you discover that just by having a firm intention, the “how” to get the job done shows up. You see with new eyes, hidden doors seem to open, and solutions appear out of nowhere. Intention is so powerful that just by intending to better control your diabetes, you will. Why? Because you will naturally take the steps that support this intention.

Invention can also help you with your diabetes management. You can invent yourself anew as someone who manages diabetes well. See yourself in this new role by holding a mental picture of being a “diabetes pro.” See yourself performing your tasks effortlessly. Feel how relaxed and confident you are. You can become better at managing your diabetes by returning to these images often, or simply by taking healthier actions. Either way, you’ll be on the path to becoming a new you.  

Now let’s look at the power of illumination. You are illuminated, lit from within, when you realize something. For instance, if you know you don’t test your blood sugar as often as you should, or that you could be doing better with portion control, allow that truth to burn so brightly that it burns right through all your excuses — and ignites your intention to do better.

Last comes inspiration. Inspiration is a sense of excitement and purpose that comes from the center of your being. Inspiration unleashes your confidence, strength and power to get the job done. To connect with your inspiration, think about what gives your life meaning and purpose.

Intention, invention, illumination and inspiration are powerful energy forces, and are an intrinsic part of who you are. If you begin to trust them and invest in them, they can help you accomplish magical results beyond your wildest imagination.