Top Ten Tips for People with Diabetes From
Tips & Tales from 50 Years with Diabetes
By Cathy Feste
- Recognize you have the power to manage your health by making good choices.
- The only person who can be responsible for your health is you. You’re in charge.
- Don’t let diabetes interrupt your enjoyment of life. There is more to life than managing diabetes.
- If diabetes management seems complex and overwhelming, break it into small, doable steps.
- Set goals for the lifestyle you want and then practice taking action.
- Become aware of the forces in your life that influence the choices you make and can become barriers to achieve your goals.
- Identify your de-stressors and use them. Stress is not an event. It is our perception of the event. Diabetes is only the “event.” Your perception of diabetes and its lifestyle requirements will determine how much stress you will experience.
- Hone your coping skills. New thoughts, exercise, laughter, vacations, relaxation, visualization, having fun and talking with friends are all good medicine.
- Practice hope. Meditation, prayer, whatever your spiritual practice is, it will help you connect to your inner wisdom and let go of problems that are beyond human solution.
- Give and receive support. Share ideas, swap stories, listen and accept. Stories about life can transcend specifics like diabetes and provide power we can use for many challenges we encounter.