Featured Blogger of the Week: November 30- December 6, Post # 1

Featured Blogger of the Week: November 30-December 6
Amylia Grace, Amazing Grace
Post # 1

Hi All You D’OC’ers:

I’m thrilled and honored to be the Diabetes OC Featured Blogger this last week of November. As we usher in the holiday season with verve and vigor, I thought it’d be appropriate to pause and consider all the gifts I’ve received as a result of my life with type 1 diabetes. I’ve previously addressed the gifts of diabetes, but this time I’m challenging myself to create my very own “Top 100 List of Thanks and Gratitude,” inspired by Jon’s comment on my recent Diabetes Daily post. While I wish for a cure as much as anyone, I recognize that as we’re experiencing these post-thanksgiving days, it could be beneficial to shift our perspectives for a moment and consider the blessings diabetes has brought into our lives. Here are some of mine:

1. The Diabetes Online Community, hosted by the fabulous Gina Capone
2. my awesome (diabetic) penpal
3. It’s given me deep connections to wonderful people I wouldn’t have met otherwise such as:
4. Manny Hernandez of Tudiabetes.com
5. Birdie and her beautiful blog which always resonates with me
6. Beth of In Search of Balance
7. Beth’s lovely husband, Daniel and their goofy cats
8. Introduction to Etsy.com and great artists, thanks to the Beth connection
9. Jillian and her Diabetor
10. It led me to meet Joe Solowieczeck
11. David, Elizabeth and baby Edelman
12. My post as writer and blogger with the Diabetes Daily Family
13. Kerri Morrone-Sparling
14. Kerri’s writing style and her fabulous blog, Six Until Me, which encouraged me to start my own Diabetes Blog
15. Scott of Scott’s Diabetes Journal and Diabetes Daily
16. Landileigh
17. Curious Girl, Nicole
18. Donna of Donnabetes
19. Cara
20. Kathryn, The Beautiful Diabetic
21. It’s given me so much SUSSY!
22. It helped foster my orginal blog, Amazing Grace, which reignited my love of writing regularly and captured my life in Taipei, Taiwan
23. The lovely comments all of you leave on my blog complimenting my writing and posts, which has increased my self-esteem and confidence as a writer
24. My writing about my diabetes, which gave me the experience and courage to apply for my M.F.A. in Creative Writing
25. Admission into my MFA Program in English/Creative Writing, thanks to my experience putting my writing out there through blogging
26. Letters and connection to writer and type 1 diabetic, Andie Dominick
27. feelings of understanding and connection through exposure to great books such as Sweet Invisible Body and Needles
28. It’s taught me the Fringe Benefits of Failure
29. It’s taught about what to do when the dirt comes up
30. It led me to Cheryl Richardson and taught me the value of Extreme Self Care
31. It’s taught me the importance of symbiosis
32. It’s given me a built-in audience for my writing and thoughts, making me feel understood and heard
33. Giving me a cause to fight for, a cure to champion
34. It’s teaching me time and time again how to work it out
35. Brought my family and local Milwaukee community togetherfor our first annual “World Diabetes Day Benefit” this year
36. An early understanding that life is precious
37. Knowing even as a little girl that good health is important and not to be taken for granted
38. Knowing it’s okay to be different from others, from a young age on
39. Heaps of gratitude for normal bloodsugars, especially 88 or 100, my favorite digits to get.
40. An early understanding of the inner-workings of my body
41. Another shared connection to my identical twin sister, Rachel, through our shared type 1 diabetes diagnoses
42. A maturity that came naturally to me
43. An early desire to see the world and experience life sooner rather than later resulting in:
44. Living outside Eastern Berlin, Germany as a 15 year old girl, with diabetes
45. Living with a host-family outside Stuttgart, Germany, for a year, with a host-sister who also had type 1 diabetes, making me realize we’re more alike than different, no matter where we reside
46. Having the courage to teach and volunteer in Madhya-Pradesh, India for the summer during college, thanks to increased control due to my first pump
47. Experiencing unconditional love from my partner, who accepts and embraces my fluctuating bloodsugars and insulin pump sidekick, Gil, without hesitation.
48. In fact, my blogging brought my partner to me, thanks to him leaving a comment on my blog and connecting that way, despite him living in the U.K.
49. Extra doses of hugs, love and empathy from the people in my life
50. Increased empathy in myself for those living with chronic illness
51. Increased responsibility instilled in me from an early age, helping me to curtail some of my borderline irresponsible impromptu, spontaneous behavior
52. It teaches me the beauty and importance of moderation
53. It teaches me to enjoy just a taste of my favorite things instead of devouring things whole without forethought
54. It teaches me how fragile yet beautiful life can be
55. It’s taught me the concept of impermanence
56. It’s taught me the value of reflection
57. It’s taught me to accept the ebb and flow of life—the ups and downs
58. It’s taught me to accept loss and gain
59. It’s taught me to be highly adaptive
60. It’s taught me important critical thinking skills
61. It’s helped me accept the natural order of things
62. It’s taught me how to look for, accept, and embrace second chances to get things right
63. It’s helped me become better at calculations and shoot-from-the-hip math skills
64. It’s helped me to be healthier in terms of my choices
65. It’s helped me to see that sometimes, life is just a bowl of (relatively high carb) cherries
66. It’s made me appreciate the amazing way our bodies work and has made me value the way all other organs work perfectly well
67. It’s taught me the value of taking precautions and has made me more careful than is inherent in my nature
68. It’s given me the sometimes needed excuse to take it easy and be gentle with myself when my natural impulse is to go, go go
69. It’s helped me to learn to listen to my body
70. It’s helped me to question things and not assume as much
71. It’s helped me to raise my voice and be my own advocate in my health care
72. It’s helped me see the goodness in others, such as some of the great doctors, NP’s and Diabetes Educators I’ve met
73. The many insights that come to me as a result of my life with diabetes
74. My introspective nature
75. It’s helped me to be less scared of blood and needles and all that good stuff
76. It’s made me strong
77. It’s made me brave
78. It’s made me resilient
79. It’s made me contemplative
80. It’s forced me to be more assertive
81. It’s made me appreciate the value of a solid night’s sleep with steady sugars
82. The courage I’ve earned each time I inject, bolus, or do a fingerstick in public
83. It’s helped me accept imperfection
84. It’s made me more creative in life and food choices, seeking out healthier alternatives and special treats
85. It’s helping me accept the bruises, scars, lumps and bumps on my body and see them as beautiful battle scars of a life well lived
86. It’s given me such genuine gratitude for Gil, my newest insulin pump
87. It makes me happily appreciate any indulgence in sweets and the times I do have dessert
88. It’s made me fear less the death of the body
89. It’s helped me to become more of an open book, teaching me to live like water
90. It helps me to feel like my life experiences make a difference to someone out there and that by writing about my diabetes, I sometimes help other people to feel less alone or more understood, which makes me very happy and keeps me going on the rough days
91. It’s taught me the value of disclosure as well as my personal right to privacy
92. It’s helped me to embrace change
93. It’s made me a member of grassroots communities, of which I’m proud to be a member (such as Diabetes Daily)
94. Through the D-OC, it’s given me and my loved ones extra prayer power
95. It has taught me the value of exercise
96. It’s taught me how to be accountable
97. It’s helped me let go of the belief that I can control everything
98. It’s allowed me to truly feel part of a global community
99. It’s allowed me to participate in creative endeavors and D365 , reigniting my passion for photography
100. It’s taught me the beauty and acceptance of a new kind of normal

So there we have it! 100 things I’m grateful for, in no particular order, as a result of having type 1 diabetes. I thought it would be quite a struggle to come up with one hundred thanks, but I was quite surprised by how quickly they flowed.

Thanks for taking the time to share my gratitude and some of the people, things and experiences my diabetes life has gifted me with throughout my thirty-one years. I encourage you to leave a comment with some of your own gifts and gratitude, as well.

Happy Holidays!

Love,
Amylia

(http://www.diabetesdaily.com/grace)

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