I was recently diagnosed with diabetes. It wasn’t a huge surprise. In fact, I’d been expecting this to happen for a while now. Every time I indulged in a sugary treat or a flavored coffee the possibility would linger in the back of my mind. Was this the choice that would push me over the edge? I tried my best to eat well and stay active, but the result felt inevitable. After losing my thyroid seven years ago my health has been slowly declining. Sooner or later I would stumble over the line between pre-diabetes and the real deal.
So the day finally came. My doctor prescribed medication. We brainstormed ways to stop things from snowballing further. Thyroid meds were adjusted. New strategies for dosage, timing, and lifestyle were hashed out. Yes, the day came, and so we are dealing with it.
My Dad, who became diabetic a few years back called to check in after I shared the diagnosis with my family. “It’s not so bad, really. “, he said. “It sort of forces you to finally do all the things you’ve been meaning to do anyway. We mean to eat better. We mean to exercise more. We have always intended to make taking care of ourselves a priority. But now the diagnosis forces you to finally get it all done. Once you do, you feel better, and you get better. In a way, it’s a good thing.”
He was asking me to find the balance in between seeing the diagnosis as positive or negative. As with so many things in life, it’s a mixed bag. But better to have a mixed bag than an empty one.
I look at our country right now, and I try to find the balance there too. So many things are wrong. The realist in me knows that the slope we are staring down will just get steeper and more slippery as time goes on. I try my best to stay active, to speak up, and stay informed, but the result feels inevitable. Sooner for later we will stumble over the line between an endangered democracy and a failed one.
So where’s the balance here? Can we really find an opportunity or a bright side in all of this? Maybe not. But here’s the best I can do. Maybe all of this will force us to embrace those things we’ve been meaning to do as citizens. Maybe we will finally make taking care of our world a priority. We’ve been meaning to shop local, to reuse and repair rather than toss away, to get off of social media and escape the screens and echo chambers we’ve been trapped in. These aren’t new things on the global citizen to-do list, but their importance is becoming a lot harder to ignore.
What’s coming is a time when ingenuity, creativity, and empathy will be cornerstones of survival. Between tariffs, food shortages, and fascism, we should finally be motivated enough to make changes to improve our habits.
Our well being finally depends on it.