Thank God for Diabetes

Now that’s a strange sentiment, isn’t it? Why would someone be thankful for a disease that severely impacts the rest of one’s life? Read on, but first, here’s a…

TRIGGER WARNING: RELIGIOUS CONTENT AHEAD. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.

This newsletter isn’t in any way about proselytizing. That said, my faith is a central part of my life. Therefore, the way I process and think about information is shaped by that faith. And yeah, that includes cycling.

As a Christian, I believe that God has ultimate control of my life. He’s in charge, not me. And this Thanksgiving season, I thank him for my diabetes.

Do I think he afflicted me with diabetes? That’s another discussion altogether, and one I’m going to sidestep for now. I’m starting with the fact that I have diabetes, either because he wanted me to have it, or my lifestyle of eating too many bad things and not taking care of my body for 20-plus years is the cause.

I was shocked and scared when I got the diagnosis. Then when I researched the disease and found out all the horrific things it can cause if left unchecked, let’s just say that my mood didn’t improve.

In the nearly five years since that day in February 2018, my view of things has reversed, becoming a mirror image of what it was. Now, I’m glad I have diabetes.

Big Changes

Crazy, I know. But the news jolted me into facing the truth about my physical situation. I immediately started a proper diet. And the same week, I bought a Peloton bicycle. I rode that sucker all the time.

I lost a lot of weight quickly with the radical changes. I stopped taking medication within a couple of months that controlled my blood sugar (Metformin ain’t no picnic).

In the intervening years I’ve lost about 40 pounds, and my goal is to lose at least another 10. I’m not thin yet, but I can at least see that goal in the distance.

My diet is now significantly healthier, and has remained so. This doesn’t mean I can’t improve on that, because I can. I still don’t eat enough veggies, and have a tendency to splurge now and then on sweets. Since my blood sugar’s under control, along with my weight, it doesn’t impact my overall health.

But I think about what I eat at every meal. I consider how it’ll impact me. I check the label for the carb counts of any foods I’m not sure about. And I eat less.

As for riding my bike, well, that became a habit almost immediately. I don’t need artificial motivation to ride. These days I ride for pleasure more than anything else. When I don’t ride for a time, I don’t feel good.

Riding still provides all those health benefits, but I don’t even have to think about them. Riding is a lifestyle now. It’s as much a part of my routine as brushing my teeth. It’s become an essential part of who I am.

These are things that likely wouldn’t have happened without the violent shove into reality that diabetes gave me. It spurred the motivation to make changes that have shaped my life since then.

Would I have done this without the diagnosis? That’s a tough one, and I’ve thought about it often in the last five years. The answer is that I’m not sure, but I am confident that any changes would have been much slower to come, if they’d happened at all.

Every one of us has challenges. And as we age, the physical challenges become greater. Without diabetes, I wouldn’t be in the shape I am now—I’m better able to deal with aging since I’m on my bike so much.

Dealing with the Bad Stuff

Much of our happiness is related to the way we respond to Bad Stuff. We can feel burdened by it, crushed underneath the weight of circumstances. When crises hit, we can say to ourselves “Not again! Why does this Bad Stuff happen to me? Why is it always me?”

A typical glucose monitor for diabetics

I get that. I totally do. I’ve had my share of Bad Stuff. That includes diabetes, which rocked me to my core.

The other way we can respond is to look the Bad Stuff in the eye, see what we can learn from it that can improve our lives, and apply those lessons. We can even turn the Bad Stuff into the Good Stuff sometimes. Not all the time, surely. But we can look for every opportunity to do so.

So I thank God that I got diabetes. Without it, I wouldn’t be writing this to you right now. Without it, I wouldn’t have turned around my physical condition the way I have. I wouldn’t have embarked on a life-altering course of careful eating and exercise.

Diabetes changed me. For the better.

Thanks, God, for the change.