There are
many things I see on the internet or hear in public that get under my
skin. As someone dealing with diabetes
those things often revolve around “cures” and “if you’d onlys”, but there is
one word that never ceases to bug the crap out of me: suffering. “Do you suffer with diabetes?” “Diabetes
sufferers” etc. ARGHH!!!! This word is not only used by snake oil
salesmen but often by reputable diabetes sites which I admire. I do NOT suffer
with diabetes. I live with it. Recently, however, I began thinking about
this “suffering” in a different way.
There are
many, many people who ARE suffering with their diabetes! All you have to do is read comments on a
diabetes Facebook page or after a blog or article to find them. How sad is that?
I love my
mom. I’ve learned many things from her
in my lifetime but there is one recent lesson I hope to remember for the rest
of my life. You see, Mom is old…very
old. It’s not so much her age that’s an
issue but more her attitude. She’s very “woe
is me” all the time. I understand
completely because, basically, her life sucks right now. I verbalized my concerns recently when I told
Ray, “I don’t want to be a “woe is me” old lady. I want to try to enjoy my life regardless of
my limitations.” I don’t intend to wait until
I’m “old” but am trying to have that commitment now. I want to enjoy life; focus on the good stuff
and try to keep the crappy things in the background, including my diabetes.
Do I always
succeed? Heck no. I can whine with the best of them. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t. No one, other than Stepford people, is happy
all the time. We all have our down days
and our days of feeling sorry for ourselves but the trick is not to live
there. I’m afraid that when people are
diagnosed with T2 diabetes they think their lives are over and lament and stew
and revel in their new-found suckiness.
Let’s face
it, we’re spoiled. We’re used to doing
whatever the heck we want when we want to do it. Then along comes diabetes and we’re told
that, in fact, we can’t just do whatever we want. We have to change our lifestyle. We need to eat a healthier diet. We need to move more. We probably ought to lose a bit of
weight. We have to poke our fingers and
bleed daily. We may need to take
medications or inject insulin or some other injectable med. Woe is me.
Life sucks. Why can’t I just eat
my beloved pizza and soda and fast food???
Because you can’t, not all the time.
Put on your big girl panties and deal with it!
Wait, maybe
you can continue to eat that way! Go
ahead! After all, it’s your life; your
short, complication-filled life. Is it reasonable to do that? I personally don’t think so but it’s not my
place to judge. But please, if you continue
on your destructive path and aren’t willing to make changes, don’t bitch about
it to me.
I’m not
without compassion. I completely
understand how hard it is to make major changes to your lifestyle. Remember, I’ve had to do it too. It’s taken me a long, long time to get to a
point where I don’t feel so freakin deprived.
I rarely feel deprived any more.
In fact, when I “splurge” I often feel as if it wasn’t worth it at
all. I would rather eat my healthier
stuff. How strange is that? It’s pretty danged strange.
My point; I
do have one. When you’re diagnosed with
T2 it’s hard, no one is denying that.
There are many things you have to change and one of those things needs
to be your attitude! Don’t live the rest
of your life as a “woe is me” person. Do
whatever it takes to embrace this new lifestyle and get on with the good
stuff. You know what? My new lifestyle has become the good
stuff! I feel good about how I’m eating
and the fact that I’ve added regular exercise to my life. These changes will go a long, long way to
making sure that I’m not unhappy like my mom when I’m 95. I know I’ll have “those days” now and then
and when they happen maybe I’ll just pop back here and read this post to remind
myself that my diabetes does not make my life suck. It’s just something I have to deal with, and
I do. I’m not suffering.