When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. – Proverb
Hey, it’s Tami writing today! The life circumstances of these past 2 weeks in my world brought this proverb to mind: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If you follow our blog, you know that our primary focus is on taking a solution-focused approach to life to positively impact the future, particularly life with diabetes…rather than focusing on problems. It’s all about how you respond. So when life hands you situations that may initially be perceived as a “problem” (a lemon, if you will), focusing on how that can ultimately be transformed into something sweet (lemonade, or better yet, diet lemonade!) is the game changer.
So today, here are 5 reflections I want to share, relating from conversations with a couple of friends that have recently unexpectedly lost spouses/partners, Covid-19 rearing it’s ugly head, and transitions galore these last few weeks:
- Even in the tough days, try to be present and appreciate every minute of life. We’ve written in the past about the impact of finding joy and expressing gratitude.
- Rest and sleep are way more powerful in healing the mind and body than we give it credit for. Personally, the day seems more manageable when I get 8 hours of sleep instead of 6 ½.
- A good belly laugh can make things seem not quite so dark or overwhelming. A perfectly timed meme from a friend has done just that for me. As comedian Milton Berle said, Laughter is an instant vacation. We’ve written about the benefit of laughter here.
- Embrace the power of “can do”. One friend walking through a significant loss shared with me a “track” she plays in her mind, “You HAVE done xx. So you KNOW you can do it. You CAN do it again. You WILL do it.” She shared that this positive self-talk and doing more of what works has given her the momentum to keep moving forward.
- I constantly remind myself that even the tough “lemon” days are part of my story. While I may not fully see it now, how I respond shapes my future. And I can share and use my experiences to impact and encourage others.
I hope these reflections that have become evident to me over the last few weeks are in some way encouraging and motivating to you, and can be shared with those clients you work with.
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Deb is employed by Dexcom, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.
Tami is employed by the University of Kentucky HealthCare Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center, but her words and opinions in this blog are her own.