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On the one hand, you need to make good blood-sugar control a top priority, to the extent that your time and daily activities are organized around your self-care routine. On the other hand, you want to live as normal a life as possible. Should diabetes always be in the top of your mind, or should you try not to dwell on it?
These questions represent a spectrum with two unhealthy extremes on either end. One is denial (especially common in the early days of a diagnosis), in which you fail to realize or accept the changes necessary to take care of diabetes and ensure a high quality of life over the long haul. The other is obsession, in which you desperately strive for perfection in every aspect of your treatment to the extent that you think about little else.
You need to incorporate a little of both extremes into your attitude about diabetes. A bit of denial allows you to set aside gloomy thoughts of complications so that you can concentrate on enjoying your life today. And a certain amount of obsession encourages you to be diligent about your care. But taken too far, both outlooks can threaten your health -- denial -- because it leads to poor glucose control, and obsession, because your inevitable failure to achieve perfect control leads to disappointment and discouragement. Finding the right balance depends in part on the way you approach life as a whole.
Seek serenity. The familiar adage that we should have the courage to change the things we can, the serenity to accept the things we can't, and the wisdom to know the difference applies particularly well to diabetes. It's important to take responsibility for your disease and do everything in your power to manage it, but also to let go of the idea that you'll ever exert total control over diabetes -- or any other aspect of your life.
Embrace ambiguity. If you wrestle with questions of whether you should consider yourself sick versus well, or in control versus at the mercy of your disease, step back and ask why it's necessary to have all the answers.
Know yourself. The real issue in how you think about diabetes may be how you think about yourself. Do you see yourself as a person with a disease or someone who's loving, creative, resourceful, and appreciated by family, friends, and community? The less you define yourself by your condition, the easier it will be to see the measures you take to control your diabetes as steppingstones to fulfilling your truly important roles in life.
From Stopping Diabetes in Its Tracks
From Stopping Diabetes in Its Tracks
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