Remaining Connected With Diabetes: Why is it that some diabetics seem to shrink into themselves and appear to have given up on life while others reach out and embrace whatever is to come next? One Type 1 diabetic has a thought – and it doesn’t take a dummy to figure out what she’s up to.
Annie Lario lives near Fort Saskatchewan, Canada. Lario is an entertainer specializing in the art of ventriloquism. She also lives with Type 1 diabetes.
Diagnosed with the disease at the age of 16 Lario could have taken her private pain and left the world stage in favor of a struggle less visible. However, Lario always seemed to thrive on entertaining those around her.
She participated in a recent fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JRDF) in Canada by providing a show featuring four of her ventriloquist puppets including Kittie, Kitango and Henry Kissingher.
Fort Saskatchewan The Record attributed Lario as saying, “Although there can be complications with diabetes, keeping healthy and being 100 percent honest with the doctors is the best way to avoid problems.”
This response indicates a need for action. It also indicates that doctors are there to help, but only if you allow them to.
Success in diabetes is to do the hard work of staying connected with others. This is important because depression is often a companion of diabetes. The reason face-to-face interaction is essential is that the self-talk we speak to ourselves can have us believing we are the only ones experiencing the difficulties associated with diabetes. We can cycle in a downward spiral to a place where others feel unwelcome and we are considered less than desirable to be around.
This condition also seems to follow many who move into retirement. They may have enjoyed interaction with others, but it becomes very easy to simply take the easy road and stay home rather than finding ways to connect with others.
Engaging life with a support group can go a long way in helping you overcome your depression or lethargy that may be related to diabetes. Finding ways to help others can allow you to dim the lights that are fixed on your own problems. This doesn’t mean you fail to treat your disease. What it does mean is that you embrace the role of one willing to see the needs of others in a light of equal value with your own.
Finding ways to help others can provide a sense of purpose and joy to your life that can be quickly diminished when your primary consideration is how poorly life has treated you.
This is true whether you struggle with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. And as hard as it may be to view yourself as a helper when you may believe you are the one needing help it is a powerful change in thinking that can alter your perspective on living.
Lario has lived with Type 1 diabetes for nearly 30 years. She continues to entertain audience as well as raise awareness and financial support for the JDRF. In recent years this has meant taking her brand of entertainment and walking a JDRF Walk to Cure backwards.
It may not always be easy to stay positive in dealing with your disease, but it is personally beneficial as well as a perceived positive development for those who love you and want the best for your life both now and in the future.