Recently, I’ve visited several support groups where I made a PowerPoint presentation. My message is about encouraging diabetics to have a positive attitude. I start by asking those present to raise their hand if they hate their diabetes. Usually every hand in the room goes up.

I then ask them if they know diabetes will be with them for the rest of their lives. Again, most hands go up. Next we discuss our relationship with a life-long disease. I ask, “How is it possible to have a good relationship with a disease you hate?”

Of course there are many reasons to hate our diabetes and it’s easy to fall into this rut, but how does it serve us? Not at all. Diabetes is very manageable, but first we’ve got to want control of our disease and then to establish a positive relationship with it.

I’ve discovered that most of the diabetics I’ve met know the right things to do in order to gain control. For example: proper eating in both quantity and types of food, exercise and taking meds as recommended by a doctor. So, why do so many diabetics not do the things recommended by their doctors?

That’s a good question and one I’m constantly exploring. One important answer is poor motivation. I don’t believe that people can be motivated by a parent, doctor, teacher or speaker. Rather motivation comes from inside and it is we who must find ways to motivate ourselves.

Stress reduction is also important for gaining control. Most of us know that high stress jacks up our sugar. In my meetings with fellow diabetics, we talk about ways to reduce stress. For example:

  • Calming techniques like meditation
  • Walking
  • Changing negative self-talk

Over the past few years I’ve found effective tools to support establishing a positive attitude. I have found joy in achieving control of my diabetes and offer the following tools to help:

  • Emotional Freedom Technique
  • Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson
  • The Little Diabetes Book You Need to Read by Michael Weiss and Martha Funnell

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