Coping Mechanisms

The more people you come across living with diabetes, the more your realize how different one can deal with their diabetes. I have lived with diabetes for almost eight years and in that time frame I would say that my level of calmness with my diabetes has been pretty steady.  I have never really let diabetes stop me from doing anything nor worried about it's effects on whatever I was doing at the time, such as writing exams or going out with friends. Of course there are moments where I've had to intervene to take care of my diabetes, but not once have I felt that diabetes took my sanity.

However, it's the smaller stuff that seems to steal my sanity. I am quite a perfectionist at times and things like, matching, organization, making plans - disrupt my calmness.  I find it incredibly strange that diabetes never has disrupted my calmness quite like a mismatching plate and napkin set. It's incredible, like my body knows, what is not all that important and stresses about that instead...

I get the stress that comes with living with diabetes and I won't type away saying I don't ever stress about my diabetes, but sometimes I wonder if that is my exact coping mechanism when dealing with this 24/7 disease.    Instead of stressing over the disease that I can do my best to manage, but cannot change, I stress over the plans of a girls' night out and making sure every detail is perfected - because that is something I can muddle around, and make perfect.

Either way I believe we all have our coping mechanisms when it comes to diabetes whether that's reaching out to talk to someone about it, ignoring it or going out of our way to stress about something else...

Kayla