Look at the Bright Side

Yesterday we opened up about how diabetes can bring us down. Today let’s share what gets us through a hard day.  Or more specifically, a hard diabetes day.  Is there something positive you tell yourself?  Are there mantras that you fall back on to get you through?  Is there something specific you do when your mood needs a boost?  Maybe we've done that and we can help others do it too? (Thanks to Meri of Our Diabetic Life for suggesting this topic.)

It happens to all of us, those days when diabetes wins and you feel like you lost. They are hard and can beat us down and make us feel like we have no control or like we have no idea of what we are doing in our battle with diabetes. These diabetes lulls are tough, but we can’t let them control us. We have to remember to take diabetes for what it is and to take it one day at a time. When I’m having a bad diabetes day, week, or month, I’m so thankful to have my diabetes group. There is something about having people who understand the up’s and downs of diabetes as much as you do, for when you need to vent to on a bad day, ask questions, or to help you when your in a jam. Without them I would feel alone in this, it’s so great to have people who understand diabetes in my life.

Before I joined my diabetes group I mainly had internal battles with myself. And when I needed to talk about it out loud it was usually with a family member who only hears you are not managing your diabetes well. After a while the only way to get through the bad days was to accept them or ignore them. It was frustrating, the only time I had someone to give me helpful tips was every 4 months when I saw my doctor and even then she was a little harsh. I didn’t really have an outlet of any kind, no positive reinforcement and no helpful solutions. It was lonely and it made living with diabetes feel even more like a burden.

Then I finally got into a diabetes group with a gal from my work. And now I would highly recommend this for everyone living with diabetes. We meet once a month and talk about our recent numbers, ask for advice, talk about our bad numbers, and basically make living with diabetes a lot lighter. We also text one another if we need diabetes supplies and our refills aren’t ready for us. There is something about working through a bad diabetes day with someone who just gets it rather than someone who hasn’t lived through it. My husband and family are my biggest supporters in my diabetes world, but sometimes it’s hard to bounce things off of them because without living in it they just can’t understand it the way we do. So now when a bad diabetes day hits I just remember to breathe and look to these people for support.

You will always run across a bad day here and there with diabetes. To me it’s just part of it. We can’t always control it even when we try out best. Having other people to talk to about it that actually get it is a little slice of heaven when it comes to my diabetes. It definitely has made living with diabetes not feel so heavy. When I get a text or hear about another diabetic having a bad or frustrating diabetes it makes me smile a little, not that they are having a rough day, but to know that they can depend on me to understand just as much as I depend on them. So next time you’re having a bad diabetes day, week, or month, look to someone who understands the diabetes world because sometimes all it takes is a little understanding from someone who gets it.