TopNews Health
Finish this sentence, I was asked. "My Diabetes..." It is a playoff inspired by an NPR blogger, who was covered by his friend, Ted Koppel, in a documentary that focuses on his "My Cancer" blog. Leroy Sievers was a Peabody Award-winning journalist who detailed his inward thoughts about colon cancer in a personal online journal of sorts, helping himself and others find some comfort and knowledge while living with cancer. He aimed for everyone to learn from one another by finishing one sentence. By scouring his readers' answers, it allowed him to see if he had "missed something", and determine if there was a "lesson the disease was trying to pass on". So today I wanted to answer this question, only involving my own disease, our own disease... and see also how you would finish the sentence, "My diabetes..."
My diabetes has reinforced my own ability to stay grounded in reality. It has helped me appreciate how useful a calm and responsible demeanor can be. This becomes a coping mechanism, which I am constantly thankful for, letting me take the needed steps to ensure I stay healthy and keep the "Beast" in check. And also allowing me to take those steps with the sureness that diabetes can be put in its place, even if that involves building an endless retaining wall that keeps the evils of the disease from spilling over. In spite of the constant work to stay on track, my diabetes has given me something to be actively passionate about. Because if I wasn't, an inward, constant, autoimmune disease process would have me under it's thumb... something I won't accept.
Share with me, share with your online peers, and finish this sentence: "My diabetes..."
My diabetes has...
* taught me things I never knew about the health benefits of proper nutrition.
* changed a 1983 middle school student who was overweight into one who was within a healthy weight range
* brought my near-divorced parents back together, in that my dad thought I would die and straightened up so that if I did, my mother wouldn't leave him
* taught me a perspective on human behavior and feelings that helps me relate to people better than I ever would otherwise
* encouraged me to be the positive and wonderful person I am, not so much through being that way, but by helping me realize I was already that way
* helped me educate others about chronic illnesses such that they understand that I am not somehow a lesser person as a result of chronic illness
* inspired others to realize that if I have the potential to succeed through effort, they certainly too have the effort to succeed without the challenges I face
* lessened the stigma of societal perception and simultaneously increased my own self-confidence
* showed me that all things in life are earned, including well-being, and should not be taken for granted
* increased my compassion for others who are facing any kind of difficulty in their life
* let me know that life goes on, and it is my decision and responsibility to make life what I want it to be
* taught me that even though beginnings may be tough, humans are adaptable to whatever comes their way
* and finally, that I CAN have a piece of chocolate cake because I know how much insulin to take for it. :-)