The Mental Pursuit of JOY, as a Type 1 Diabetic:
The mental pursuit of JOY, as a Type 1 Diabetic is no easy task, but it is possible. Have you ever heard of the saying “happiness is temporary, joy is eternal” or something like that? I think this can represent every person’s up and down. If you are able to find JOY, then those times of sadness and stress, then they are much easier to carry.
The Mental side of Living with T1D:
As most may know, blood sugar affects us, not just physically, but emotional. It affects our moods, our energy levels, and mental clarity. If we look at the symptoms of high and low blood sugar, we can truly see how often type 1 diabetes affects us mentally. That is without looking at how we must calculate constantly, whether it is how much insulin we need, what we are going to do during the day, if we have enough insulin or low snacks on us. All of these thoughts create about 180-200 more decisions per day for us.
Coming to Terms with it:
Highs and Lows are just a part of our lives both diabetically speaking and non-diabetically speaking. Some of these highs and lows are unpredictable and you cannot do much about it. Even if you jump on it, you may still not stay in range. As frustrating this is, you must understand that you cannot hold yourself to standards higher than reachable. Take a step back, breathe, and know that even when you do your best, it can be unpredictable. You must come to terms with it.
How do You Come to Terms with it?
It starts with a mindset shift, you cannot have perfect control, so do your best to manage those unpredictable areas. Using this, I am sure you will have less mental fatigue and more enjoyment throughout your day. Small wins are the consistency in managing your type 1 diabetes. Learn from some things you may struggle with, seek out how others may tackle those and see if that works for you! Not everyone has the same experience as you do in type 1 diabetes, so you must know yourself and understand how you feel.
Pursuing JOY Throughout Your Day:
How might we pursue joy? Taking those small wins and capitalizing on them. If you wake up with good blood sugar, carry that with you through the day. Maybe you do the perfect amount of insulin, celebrate that. Or maybe, your blood sugar has been high all day, but you finally are able to get it down, be glad in that. By celebrating these small wins, you build up your motivation to continue pursuing joy.
Finding Joy in Your Community:
By surrounding yourself with community that understands you and values you make it easy for joy to surround you. Community makes you feel less alone, lifts weight off of you by being relatable. It also makes those harder times understood.
How Being Prepared Can Give You Peace:
Peace and Joy almost go hand in hand, so making sure you are prepared daily, helps you have a sense of peace and joy. This looks like having low snacks with you all the time. Having insulin with you and extra pumps or CGMs, so you are extra prepared. This allows you to be freer and not have to stop your day just to go grab all of these things.
Joy within Type 1 Diabetes:
I find my joy in Christ, so I hope you will too. It is extended into how I view my life with Type 1. It allows me to find peace within responsibility. It creates balance and resilience as well as compassion for me. While not every day feels as joyful as the other, I do feel consistent contentment in how I am able to take care of myself. And how I am able to still do all the things I love, just with a few extra steps.
Thanks!
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Peace
Gracie
