Fits Like a Glove

Life can be full of paradoxes for us at times.  They may feel like paradoxes yet it is my heart’s belief that if we step back & take a good look at our lives that we see these experiences differently.

For a minute, let’s think about times in our lives when we have felt super comfortable or within our absolute comfort zone or happy with the way things are going.  We may want to stop the clock & hold on to these times in our lives.  They may be memories of profoundly joy-filled times in our lives.  It could be graduating or scoring at a sporting event, winning something, celebrating a wedding, or the birth of a child.  As much as we try to will the time to stand still it is not a possibility currently.  And days pass & not too much may look different yet days turn into weeks & months & years.  And if we have somehow landed on the “gerbil wheel” of having more hours of stuff to do on our to do lists than hours in the day then we just may be baffled at what happened to bring us to that spot.  Over time though, we may find ourselves way outside either our comfort zone or anywhere near where or who we want to be. 

The greatest paradox that has created a soft landing to where I am right now is type 1 diabetes.  You may share this experience too whether you have type 1, another 365 challenge or another challenge.  Out of the struggle with type 1, the lid flew off my life.  And do you know why that happened?  It is because we can choose to let the lid fly off in a great way.  Although I have been working diligently on building more patience within myself, the area that I confess that I have a negligible amount of patience with is complaining & then not being part of the solution.  What is that all about?  I personally don’t get the pay off on that one.  Complaining for the sake of complaining is to me a choice to stay stuck in misery.  Who wants that for themselves or someone they love?  For sure, venting is healthy & that is quite a different matter I believe versus mere complaining.  If we are venting, we may be seeking the solution so it is a pathway to the changing of something.  On especially challenging days with type 1, I have Dear Heart Battle Buddies that I am thankful to be able to safely vent in an unabridged way.  At the end of the vent, it just naturally comes out of me either a humourous line or a strength declaration like diabetes does not own me or get the last word ever.  I am not my diabetes & you & I are way more than diabetes or any other challenge.  Some days stink big time.  The days where blood sugars are doing the happy dance, I feel amazing & get more living packed into those days than I used to have in a month before I had diabetes.  Of course I did not want diabetes & I don’t want it for anyone nor any 365 challenge.  The paradox is that when we look at some of the shining champions in the world, they are often people that jumped monumental barriers to leap over their struggles & make a difference in the world.  Perhaps the struggle propels us to become more fully alive.  My heart hopes so.  I know with all my being that this is what happened to me.

Diabetes has brought out the comfort in me.  It is great to not have to worry about finding a spot in life to land in a comfort zone anymore & want to make time stand still.  My comfort zone travels with me & it is timeless.  My heart’s hope is that you are finding this to be true for you too.  Prior to diabetes I held back from putting myself fully out there in life.  I dialed down my humour, enthusiasm, and more.  I found myself trying to blend in more & surely not rock the boat.  And I felt frustrated mostly with myself when I did that.  We are not meant to blend in.  We are meant to use up every single ounce of our abilities, talents & love in our own way.  And I knew this all along so that just made it feel all the more of juxtaposition.  When people on our pathway in life either suggest that we blend in or behave a certain way, we get to ask ourselves what that person’s motivation is.  And we get to ask whether they are the role models that we want championing our lives.  My belief is that someone who is championing us will encourage us to live our lives with an exclamation mark.  Diabetes has had a way of magnifying everything in my life.  It has magnified love, high energy days, humour, care, compassion, standing up for what is right, being free to stand alone when it is for the greater good, the importance of forgiveness, giving my heart to others in my sentimental way,  being unapologetically me and everything, everything, everything else!  If our lives had an exclamation mark button how great would it be to go ahead & wear that exclamation mark out!

To share with you, recently I found myself driving back from an adventure one Saturday afternoon.  I found myself in an area of town where I was going to need to wait for about 15 minutes.  A mentor of mine taught me early on in my career to always carry a book with me everywhere.  This was great advice.  It was at a time when I did a lot of driving for work & many times either weather or traffic conditions offered up delays & having a book made a huge difference.  Although I carry a book to this day with me everywhere I go, on this particular Saturday, I found myself pulling over, parking & letting my sociology background flourish.  During studies, we called “people watching” field research, so let’s call it that on a humourous note.  I was parked near a church & there was a wedding that had just been celebrated.  The guests began to come out to their cars.  I smiled on this happy occasion for the family & friends & the couple that I will never know.  What impressed upon me the most was the amount of fidgeting, displays of discomfort & people showing just how much outside their comfort zones they were.  I thought to myself that this seemed like quite a paradox.  Here all these people had gathered for one of the most joy-filled celebrations & yet the feeling in the air was one of tremendous discomfort, pasted on smiles & people not looking at one another for the most part.  There’s a very good chance that folks became more at ease once they were at the reception hall.  My thought though all the same was & is that wouldn’t it be more natural, more joy-filled & peaceful if each person simply transported their comfort zone with them. 

My heart’s hope for you is that you bring your comfort zone along with you everywhere & add in an exclamation mark for your life. May your life fit you like a glove!   After all, both of these things pack lightly yet make a beautiful difference!

Smiles, Saundie :)

Love out loud this day, this week, this month...yes especially in November as it is Diabetes Awareness Month & go ahead & repeat the other 11 months of the year.  Make November a blue exclaimation mark!  Next Monday's sharing is, "Uh O, It's the "D" Word!" (and the D word is not diabetes!)     :)