One great thing

This week is the third annual diabetes blog week, a fantastic idea from my friend Karen at Bitter~Sweet Diabetes. Each day of the week there is an assigned topic to write about, and everyone who is participating shares their thoughts on it.

The topic I'm writing on today is "One Great Thing." I am to tell you about one diabetes thing I do spectacularly!  What a fun topic, right?

I am spectacularly good at being resilient!

Being resilient and staying strong

Every day is full of numbers. There are blood sugar results, insulin doses, carbohydrate counts, minutes of exercise, hours of sleep, and many more. Each of those numbers is tied to each other in some degree, and a couple of them have targets. What happens when my blood sugar is nowhere near my target? Part of me thinks about it being information that I can use to make adjustments, or to do something different next time. But another part of me thinks about how bad I messed up, or asks how I could make such a stupid mistake. We are our own worst critic, right? 

Diabetes can smother us with the perception of inadequacy and failure.

When I've had one of those days, where the entire day is one big diabetes disaster, I know that, Lord willing, I have a fresh start the next morning. That ability to keep trying, no matter what, blows my mind. Diabetes can beat us silly one day, yet we get up the next morning to try our best all over again. We continue to work hard at not only surviving--a challenging task in its own right--but improving and doing better!

Then think about the fact that we all have real jobs, and all of the real-world demands that most everyone else has. Most of us are setting fine examples in those areas too! We don't give ourselves enough credit for what we do. It's a quiet strength, and one that isn't often noticed.

That is why I feel so proud of myself for taking God's gift of a new day and doing my best with it. 

Today I'd like you to think about all of the work it takes to live well with diabetes. Then congratulate yourself for being so strong. 

You are amazing.  I see the strength in you.