One Small Step This November
National Diabetes Awareness Month 2019
It’s November! Halloween is over, Thanksgiving hasn’t happened yet, and the time has come to break out the blue everything for National Diabetes Awareness Month.
Let me start by saying that I love and appreciate NDAM. The overarching goal is that ALL people become aware of all of the types of diabetes; that perhaps we can stem ignorance in the form of bad jokes or poor public policy, and that our community can be (and truly feel) heard in a way that doesn’t typically happen throughout the rest of the year.
In reality, I imagine that those of us who pay the most attention to the social media posts, email campaigns, and blue circles are the ones who have no choice but to be aware of diabetes anyway.
It’s important that we continue reaching out to the general public about diabetes awareness. I think it is also important to strengthen the bonds between those of us who are already aware during this month. Bringing awareness to each other, within the diabetes community, is something that may seem unnecessary, but we each have bits of knowledge that someone else may not have. Not to mention, there’s plenty of space for the inner work that each of us needs to bring awareness to ourselves and the areas of our health and well-being that need that our awareness, regardless of where we are in our diabetes journey.
Being just one individual person, it can be a bit daunting to decide what to share on social networks during NDAM, when and how to start conversations about diabetes in public spaces, and all of the other things that we might feel extra motivated to do during this time of year.
Maybe you’ve felt that weight of educating others, balanced with not wanting to overwhelm or open the door to negative feedback due to misunderstanding of the information that you shared.
Maybe your head is swimming, thinking about all of the possibilities that you could choose to focus in on and inform others about—the day-to-day of diabetes, insulin pricing, insurance issues, low blood sugar, DKA, stigma, the amazing diabetes community, non-profits out there doing great work for our people, the late nights, tears of frustration, moments of joy from the hard work we do each and every day to keep ourselves going.
How can we possibly do it all in this one month?!?
The answer is that we, as individuals, cannot do it all in this one month. We will each pick the things that are important to us, or feel accessible. Collectively, our community will cover it all…and it won’t stop on November 30th.
What we can do, as individual people who can only do so much at once, is meditate on what we want (or need) to get out of this month. We can ask ourselves what it is that we want to give to others during this month of heightened awareness, choosing to work towards a singular goal at this moment.
As a coach, one of the things I do with my clients is help them get clarity on the goal they are setting out to achieve. Once the goal is identified, we start looking at the steps it will take to get there. Before we take the jump to the whole first step, I ask this question:
“What is one action you can take, beginning today, that will help you take this step?”
Breaking things down is important. With so much on our plates in today’s whirring, buzzing, busy modern world, it’s easy to put things off. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, without prioritizing tasks according to our needs and values, we might never actually get started. Coming up with one small action to take us closer to our goal and achieving that first win not only propels us forward. It reminds us that we can and we will.
With that in mind, I challenge you to think about what your one small action will be that affects change during NDAM. It can be a change for you, our community, or the world at large. Maybe the change you want to see is something I can help you with, and if it is, I hope you won’t hesitate to reach out and let me know how I can coach you through it. One small step for National Diabetes Awareness Month could be a giant leap for moving our interests forward or improving our own health and well-being!
I have a goal this November. While I know I will continue to educate about diabetes to people who may or may not be aware of the facts, I want to do something this year that brings a different type of awareness to people affected by diabetes, as well as those who are not.
My goal is to share the gift of coaching with as many people as I can. I believe (and research has proven) that the “coach approach” is a game-changer for people looking to bring a new awareness to their diabetes management, whether their diabetes is new or has been with them for a long, long time.
Maybe the result of our diabetes awareness efforts is that we shine a spotlight on the symptoms of T1D and T2D, or bring about policy change, or fundraise for research so we can one day have a cure (and continue finding ways to improve quality of life for people who live with diabetes).
Maybe it’s that people with and without diabetes do their best to live healthy, full lives because of the attention we are able to direct onto well-being this month.
Maybe it’s that you bring awareness to your own diabetes and focus on how to feel more empowered in your life, which has a ripple effect on how you show up in the world and bring diabetes awareness to others.
Whatever your goal is for NDAM, your first tiny action that you take to reach it, or however you decide to make your mark internally or externally this November, I look forward to seeing how all of our individual contributions to awareness take hold in our community and beyond.