Happy St. Patrick’s Day…..The Top of the Morn’n to You…..YOU Deserve Better.

One of the least addressed of all complications surrounding diabetes is the mental state of the entire family involved.  Whether we admit it or not, diabetes plays havoc on all of our mindset.  It is up to each of us to admit it and deal with it.  But we need to find the time, during the day, for just us.

Today being St. Patrick’s Day I thought it appropriate to begin as many do on St. Patrick’s Day by saying “The Top of the Morn’n to You”.  Of course, as many Irish know, the response is, “..and the Rest of the Day to Yourself.”  (Irish accent optional)

Many are not exactly sure where the saying came from and perhaps it’s best explained looking at unhomogenised milk.  When the milk is taken from the animal, usually in the morning, the cream rises to the top at some point.  This is the best tasting part and usually would be tasted for the best (or the ‘TOP’) of the morning.  If one is going to wish me to have the best part of the milk, the nicest thing I can do is wish them the better part of the rest of the day since they already wished me the best part.

When do you take the best part of the day for you.   YES…..YOU!  I have tried, for the better part of quite a few years, to find some time during the day for just me.  Whether it is a cup of coffee, or a walk, or a sit outside by our waterfall……I look for that time.  I urge you to do everything in your power to find 10 minutes a day, at least.

Chances are that you do little for yourself.  There is the family, the job, diabetes, diabetes, and diabetes, as well as every little detail that you take-on every day.  But you do not find the time for you.  “I can’t, I am too busy”, does not wash here.  Everyone is busy.  In fact everyone is probably too busy.  If you speak to the people who seem to ‘have control’ in this diabetes world, many will tell you that the most important person involved is the one that gets the least amount of time……and that person is you.

And let’s face it, if YOU are not on top of your game……many people could pay the price.  Ever see a pitcher who is throwing a no-hitter or a perfect-game in baseball?  By the seventh inning the rest of the team will not even speak to them.  Out of respect, they are leaving the pitcher to him/herself to ‘stay in the zone’.  They find the time for themselves and the team gives it to them as well.

You could find a thousand excuses not to find time for yourself but that would be an error….as you only need one good reason.  You HAVE TO STAY on top of your ‘A’ game.  You cannot do that without sleep, food, and you need to add a time for just you.  To get away from everything (even in just your mind) and think about what makes you happy.

What do YOU do for just you—–please share with us?

This is not a ‘Zen’ kind-of-thing (unless you choose that) or some ‘flighty’ way out-there thought process.  This is the most important thing that you bring to the table regarding diabetes, and that is you.  So find the time to clear away the schedule for just you.  You are worth it.  So on this day of corn-beef, green, parades and a day where everyone is Irish…….’The Top of the morn’n to YOU’…………………….You’ll find that you are, indeed, the cream of the crop.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.