Friday, March 11, 2011

perspective

Hearing about the earthquake in Japan and its effects has made me incredibly sad, but it has also made me feel grateful for what I have. It's not that I didn't feel grateful before, but I know that I've been very negative lately. I feel every little frustration x 10. I complain more. I bitch more. And whenever something goes wrong or I don't feel well, I focus on it and make it worse with my negative attitude. Yes, diabetes sucks. The thought of being in a natural disaster terrifies me even more so because I rely on insulin and technology to manage my health and survive.

My roommate and I started talking about all these natural disasters as of late, and then she asked me what my plan is if there was a natural disaster here. I don't like to think about it and she was actually freaking me out a bit, but it did force me to think about it, which I think is a good thing. It's easy to go about your life and be inside your little bubble you create for yourself. It can be difficult to comprehend life outside of that at times.

It also made me remember that I am in control of how I react to things. I can choose to be in a bad mood or I can choose to be in a good mood. Wouldn't my life be less stressful, less anxiety-filled if I remembered to breathe more and relax? I can choose to educate myself or I can stay stagnant. I can choose to be happy. I can choose to actually live my life instead of letting diabetes take control. I can start taking responsibility for my actions instead of acting like things are just "happening" to me and it's "unfair." That doesn't mean I won't have those down days or won't be sympathetic to people who are down, but I am tired of being tired. I'm tired of being in a bad mood, of letting diabetes take over my body, my mind, my feelings. It's time to take back that control and it's time to remember the things I AM grateful for.

I'm grateful for my family, for my friends, my boyfriend...all the GOOD people in my life who are my support system. I'm grateful to have a job, to have a decent income and insurance. I'm grateful that I have running water and a place to live. I'm grateful to be safe and secure. And it's about time I focus on these positives in my life instead of letting the negatives run the show.

5 comments:

  1. Great post Val. It is times like these that definitely make you stop and take pause and puts things into perspective.

    I usually have about 3-4 months worth of supplies on hand for Joe...most of them are kept in the basement in the structurally "safest" room. I doubt anything would happen, but you never know. Nothing is guaranteed in life...is it?

    Have an awesome w/e!!!

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  2. Sometimes it takes the bad things to make us appreciate the good things. just the way of life, of course.
    We should probably have more supplies on hand than we do. Right now, we have only one back up pen of insulin; and one of Lantus in the fridge...you never want to think of bad things happening, though...

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  3. We stock pile. Fill rx as soon as we can. Our D bag has sites, food, cartridges etc. Im always scared to get stuck somewhere for a long period of time.

    Great post. :)

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  4. So true. The first thing that popped into my head when I learned of the disaster in Japan was "what about those with diabetes?" It definitely makes you think about the "what ifs" and it is best to be prepared.

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  5. Great post! Definitely makes you think about what really matters and trying to stay positive about life. We all have our "down" moments, but as long as the positive is more overwhelming, we will be ok. :-)

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