Is Diabetes much of a Challenge

Life is a series of challenges, Type 2 Diabetes is just another challenge. To me the biggest problems are history and misinformation. I have had type 2 for around 14 years now, everything they taught me at the newly opened Diabetes clinic at the local hospital 14 years ago is pretty much useless information now. We are creatures of habit but Diabetes treatment is forever changing. The meds, the diet the ideas are always new and different.

Unlike a lot of other of life's challenges we label ourselves with this one. Either as diabetics or the more politically correct “person with Diabetes” If we are going to label ourselves why do it with the name of the illness? How about calling ourselves “The person that lives healthy lives” or “ The person that eats low carb”? Personally I don't believe in labels due to illness but no matter which label you prefer the old or the newer they both refer to an illness there fore are negative labels. Why do that to yourself?

I wear a medic alert necklace, why because if I am out on my own and go low that will help them know what to do for me, Some don't like it since they think it will reflect poorly on them as if having an illness makes them weaker. I can't control others perceptions nor would I want to I see my medic alert necklace as a positive helpful thing so why would I care what someone else thinks of it. If I see diabetes as a weakness then that is what it is but I now look at it as just something else to deal with. I read food labels now as a matter of habit. I don't plan meals since my wife and I only have healthy stuff in the house it really dose not matter what we make. If I do have to eat out I have checked out the nutritional values of most place online before I go and if it's not available will stick with plain foods with I know will not put my food plan to far off.

I learn new things every day and my food plan and way of treating Diabetes is always changing. I
think that is the biggest change Diabetes has made on my life is I don't have the luxury of being a creature of habit. But almost anything worth doing in life isn't easy so why should the challenge of Diabetes be any different ?

But then again how much of a challenge is Diabetes? Compare it to raising kids or succeeding in your career or just keeping you and your family happy is just eating right and doing a little exercise harder than any of that. Yeah we have to take meds and test our sugar but how long do either of those take? Sure sometimes it's hard to find the time to do the things we have to. but compared to the time it takes to die a slow agonizing death thanks to diabetes many complications what 30 minutes a day to exercise?

Keep your goals realistic, if you set your goals to high you may fail. Do it one step at a time. When you have conquered the challenge of Diabetes you may realize it wasn't that much of a challenge.