Ever notice how you seem to hear certain phrases over and over in a short period of time??  For me it has been the phrase “What is your Why?”  Why do you get up in the morning? Why do you do the job you do? Why do you do believe what you do? Why do you work so hard?  Why do you want someone else to be different?  Why do you prefer this viewpoint over that one? Why do you wear a pump?  Why do you test so often?  Why don’t you test more often?  Why did you eat that?  Why did not do (or not do) something?  The list can go on and on, but it does create a list of questions that can help us understand our motivation.  From there we get better insight into our behavior.

Not so random

So as it turns out, what we do every day is not as random as we may think.  We typically move towards things that feel better (pleasure) and away from things that feel worse (pain).  Seems simple, but to make sense of  our behavior we have to dig into what we believe.  And what we believe is the answer to “What is your Why?”  Do you believe diabetes sucks? If yes, that is why you feel negatively about it.  Do you believe you have not choice or no freedom? If yes, that is why you feel trapped and frustrated.  Do you believe that no one really understands you?  If yes, that is why you feel so isolated and alone.

On the flip side

Do you believe your life has purpose? If yes, then diabetes may have given your clarity about your mission.  Do you believe you can make changes?  If yes, then that is likely the reason you seem to roll with the punches of diabetes.  Do you believe you are healthy? If yes, then that is likely the reason you live a healthful life.  Do you believe what you think matters?  If yes, then that is likely the reason you are comfortable telling your provider, family and friends what is really important to you.

There is an obvious pattern.  Do you see it?  Your beliefs influence how you see yourself.  And how you see yourself is your “why”.  The good news is that you can step back and rethink your “why”.  You can change your “why”. You can choose to see things differently.  It may seem confusing, but once you see it it, you can’t unsee it.

What is your “why”?

Peace,

Patricia %