Timeless & Never Goes Out of Style

Are you still wearing the fashions that you wore 20 years ago?  The funny thing is that with the oft said phrase, “what is old is new again” may mean that you have just answered yes to this question.  A couple of years ago, while out for coffee, a complete stranger came up to me & said that they liked my haircut because they said it was just like “Marsha Brady’s.”  That was a bit of a laugh because that sure was not at all what I had been going for yet it was a wee trip down memory lane.  Clothes & hair styles & music can to a certain degree go out of style.  That does not really bother me.  If I like something, then I am pretty loyal to the style whether it is current or not.  And to top it off, with diabetes, functionality in clothing especially plays a part.  If for instance something has either hidden pockets or a lot of pockets, it is likely going to be pretty useful.  If you too have type 1 diabetes & are a “pumper”, you may have a similar viewpoint.  It is kind of neat when we can be “hands free” when we go out.  As often as possible, it is nice to not have to carry what resembles a suitcase for our diabetes supplies.  I challenge myself to find the smallest “vessel” for carrying supplies.  It is just a “quirk” that I have & it makes me laugh with myself.  Anything that we can laugh at seems medicinal, don’t you think?

The things that are timeless & don’t ever go out of style are not things at all, don’t you find?  I am referring to choosing to live an intentional life of magnanimous actions & gratitude.  For sure, I am not suggesting that we “put on” these traits or characteristics.  It is instead an intentional, genuine choice to be pulled in the direction of kindness & gratitude.  In sharing time with other folks with either type 1 diabetes or other 365 challenges, time & time again, we share with one another that since being diagnosed that we tend to feel a sense of magnification.   It may be in the knowing that we are faced with a health challenge that we have to take care of & that the consequence of not looking after oneself can be devastating.  Health is looked at in a different way once you have a 365 health challenge, don’t you think?  The days when we feel really well are appreciated in a magnified way.  I have even found that I want to jam pack more into my life because I actually cherish life more since my diagnosis of just over 5 years ago.  I don’t compare my life to folks who do not have health struggles intentionally.  None of us wish a health struggle on anyone.  There are certainly times where you & I may share our frustration of some of the views that folks without our health struggle articulate that are at times ignorant or bordering on mean-spirited.  Thankfully, there are some amazing groups that we can join to decompress when this happens.  My favourite ways to decompress within a couple of type 1 diabetes groups that I am fortunate enough to belong within are: humour & honesty.  Being able to share our feelings & have that understanding within these groups is priceless.  And the unique humour can really add to our sense of belonging  & moving on.  Thankfully, we each hopefully also have many battle buddies & dear hearts that, although they do not have diabetes or another 365 challenge, just “get it.”  How great is that!

The words that never go out of style in my mind are “please” and “thank-you.”  If we don’t as a society “accessorize” with these two words then we just may be journeying away from the most desirable styles available. Just like putting on either the latest fashion clothing or make-up or earrings, the words please & thank-you are choices that we get to make every day.  We can choose to “not leave home without them.”  The coolest people that I know are people that have genuine manners & heartfelt care for others.  Now that’s timeless “fashion!”

This morning, I found myself as always waking up & saying 2 things to myself:  “today is not about you, Saundie” & “time to make a list of gratitudes.”  Here’s the thing that I have found & that is with these 2 daily thoughts, it helps keep me on track.  First of all, it could become easy to at times feel badly for oneself especially when health challenges are present.  When my focus is on thinking of others, I just naturally am filled with more gratitude or the rock of remembering what is most important in a given day & in a lifetime.  This morning, I woke up & was feeling especially unwell.  There seems to be a cold virus going around the school that our boys attend.  All three of our sons got the cold last week.  Today, I woke up with it too.  On top of that, I have a chronic G.I. challenge that decided to really act up as well as tendonitis that had been “behaving itself” for quite a while.  Do you know that feeling when you are driving on a winter’s day in Ontario & you really have to concentrate even more on your driving due to the weather conditions?  Today was kind a parallel in the mind perspective of that analogy.  When I feel pretty well then it is kind of like the “drive” is almost unmemorable.  In other words, the waking up & thinking these 2 thoughts of:  today is about being kind to others & being thankful are like “cruise control” or automatic when I feel fairly well.  It is on the days like today, that additional concentration is required because just like driving on a winter’s day, I also don’t want my attitude to end up in the “ditch.”  And the best part is that just like with driving experience, with experience with type 1, I anticipate that there will be days like today.  So, I have my “snow tires” on.  I hang onto the wheel with both hands in terms of my thinking & attitude on days like today.  It is like turning the vehicle around.  It takes intention & attitude is a lot like that too I think.  This morning, my gratitudes won big time over any possible “poor me” thinking.  Today, I declared that it would be a jammie day.  Ahh, the comfie Snoopy jammies kind of make me smile so they became the uniform of choice.  So I appreciated the Snoopy jammies & that a tummy comforting food was already prepared & that although I would have to cancel some plans for the day that I could replace these with other enjoyable activities.  As an aside, each week, I make up 2 blender-filled homemade fruit smoothies & then put the contents into mason jars & freeze them.  That way, when it is time for breakfast, I have it all ready & it seems to sit well on even an upset tummy.  When we aren’t feeling well, it is especially great to have already made some comfort food for ourselves.  I try to usually have both the smoothies in the freezer as well as homemade chicken soup for our family.  Today, I am appreciating these foods even more.  It is like caring for ourselves in advance! 

A number of ladies in our geographic area will remember this past Mother’s Day.  Many moms commented in conversation recently that the weather was awful that day & that took away from their enjoyment of the day.  I did not share that viewpoint.  Sure, there was hail & it was freezing cold.  When I saw that the day was going to be like that, I was excited to finish a book that  a friend had leant me & also I got the rare treat of “being in charge of the tv remote.”  It was relaxing watching some movies that I had been saving up for that day.  It was a day filled with simple pleasures & I feel thankful to have enjoyed that day surrounded with my husband & sons.

Every morning, I get a blast out of our golden retriever.  She is a character!  It does not matter who feeds her in the morning, the result is always the same.  It is too funny to see her always thank the person in the room who did not feed her!  The best part though is that in the 3 years that our furry gal has been part of our family, she has always thanked someone for feeding her & all this without words!  That always reminds me that if a beautiful creature who does not have the capacity for words is able to show her gratitude, imagine the possibilities for people!

My heart’s hope for you is that every single day you have a way to steer your way to the people & thoughts that fill your heart with gratitude.

Smiles, Saundie :)

May your week ahead be filled with countless treasured moments of gratitude & Friday's sharing is entitled, "The Answer & the Question."  :)