For a long time I’ve felt called to work with people who are newly diagnosed with diabetes (in addition to advocating for children and older people – I guess I’ll stay busy). A while back I decided that I should probably gear my blog more toward newly diagnosed folks, in order to help people benefit from a positive approach right out of the diabetes gate.
I’ve discovered that many new websites and projects are cropping up around new diagnosis and positive approaches: reassurance that everything is going to be ok, you can still do the things you want to do, and so on. And this is wonderful! I’ve also noticed that most of the ones I’ve found are geared toward people with type 1 diabetes, so let the record show that all these shiny, happy messages go for those with type 2 too!
And then I read a lot of quotes from people with diabetes about how frustrated, angry, upset they get with diabetes, and I wonder if I sound like I’m discounting people’s feelings when I write things like this. I hope not, because I do believe feelings are valid. My deal is that I don’t want to be a victim. I don’t want to waste time getting bogged down in negative thoughts/feelings, because they tend to keep me from being productive or moving forward.
So I acknowledge that there are down times, and that there are frustrations and even anger. I encourage all of us to use those times/feelings to somehow benefit our cause (I’m thinking of angry {in a good way} moms and dads who are out there raising money for research) or else move past the negative and get on with the positive as soon as possible. It’s got to be better for our cells in the long-run.