Look, we all know diabetes can be hard. There are countless tasks we must perform to make our numbers look good at endo appointment time. Still more to do at or after endo appointment time.
Do I really have to list them here? Okay, I’ll list some of them:
– Check blood sugar
– If you’re an insulin user, bolus appropriately
– Stay active
– Get your eyes checked at least yearly
– Refill prescriptions and durable medical supplies
– Handle unexpected highs and lows as they occur, because they will occur, usually at an inopportune time. When is an opportune time for an unexpected high or low?
– Deal with insurance claims and denials and FSA or HSA reimbursements
– Oh yeah, live our everyday lives, interacting with family and friends in a manner that suggests that we have all of this shit together allll the time
Let’s think of this in an either/or sort of way: If you don’t have diabetes as a part of your life, you don’t have to be responsible for any of the above. If you do, you have the above as a nice starter list, but it’s not all you’ll have to do.
So as you go through your life, taking care of all of these things, day after day, every day, I think it’s understandable if you stop and wonder: What’s my motivation for doing this if I’m only going to have to keep doing it forever?
I mean, there’s the whole “we do it to stay alive” thing, which is the most important, and should never be overlooked. But beyond that, I think it’s a legitimate question. For me, there have been days when the repetitiveness of it all has become either all-consuming or overwhelming.
What do you do to stay motivated? What helps you get through those difficult days?
Often, I find myself fighting back the urge to give it any consideration at all, and I just plow ahead. That can be a recipe for disaster… read any number of articles on the link between diabetes and depression to see what I’m talking about.
But not thinking about it too much helps me deal with things when I need to, and not feel guilty about things when I let them slide a bit. In that way, this strategy may be more helpful than hurtful.
In the end though, I think what motivates you is what motivates you… whether it’s so you can feel better, so you can live longer, so you can help your loved one live their best life, so you can get a great big Grande Latte once you finish everything on your to-do list.
Your reason is the right reason for being motivated and staying motivated. We are too important, all of us, to forget that. Your worth is your motivation. That’s enough of a motivator all by itself.
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