Fear is a good thing. Fear of failure, fear of mediocrity, fear of consequences. A large element of living successfully with type 1 comes from beating fear – the fear that others, ignorant of what you’re capable of, project on to you, and your own fears about what might happen when you do things you haven’t done before. If we don’t beat this fear, then T1D wins and we lose. Spontaneity gets sucked out of life and imaginary barriers become reality.
But those are the nice fears, the fun and challenging fears, the fears that need to be laughed at, toyed with, and trampled.
The real fear is about the damage that comes when we lose our grip. Tight control is elusive, numbers go up and down. It’s sometimes a roller coaster, often a dance, and occasionally a steady flow. But everyone with type 1 thinks about the big stuff – kidney and eye damage that can come in the medium to long term. And we all know that type 1 consequences can claim lives in the night. And we all think it won’t happen to us. What are the odds?
But we need to remember that this is not just science but art, that it is an incredibly delicate balancing act and that even with the slightest slip of attention we must be ready to catch a fall.
Monique Hanley helped bring HypoActive into existence. She’s such a top cyclist that when she’s asked about cycling, her diabetes is rarely even mentioned. That’s truly what it’s about. That’s a goal. To be so good at what you love, that the obsession is the story. And she’s a mum of two. And she’s something of a Super-Diabetic, as far as I’m concerned. She’s like Missy Foy or Jarral Ryter or Sebastien Sasseville in that regard.
And the other night she came about as close as you would want to coming too close. And she has written about it. And her words are amazing.
http://www.moniquehanley.com/2014/06/whitewash.html
You need to read her story and email it to anybody in your life with diabetes who isn’t paying attention. And if you’ve got type 1 diabetes, email this story to anybody who ever asked if you should be drinking that Coke or eating that cake and tell them that this is the real stuff and it’s there for you every day.
Then eat some cake and go for a run. Or ride. Or row.
Filed under: Hypoactive, Type 1 diabetes, death, diabetes, health, Monique Hanley, motherhood, motivation, writing
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