It’s Diabetes Blog Week! Thanks to Karen from Bitter~Sweet Diabetes for coming up with and coordinating this exciting annual event. It’s a great chance to discover other diabetes bloggers from around the world. Here’s my first entry for the week!
I honestly believe it when I say that diabetes hasn’t stopped me from doing anything. I was diagnosed at 24 years at a really busy time where I was making plans, dreaming of my future and beginning to really think about who I wanted to be in this world.
And those plans I was making all happened. And the dreams came true. And I found my place in the world.
There are, however, some things of which I am particularly proud. The red velvet cake I made for Mother’s Day afternoon tea yesterday should probably get a mention. My book and boot collection make me proud as punch! I can recite pretty much the whole of Marx Bros’ A Night at the Opera. I can whip pretty much anyone at air hockey. But these things were never in question. I was always going to manage to achieve them. Diabetes or not.
But diabetes did make me wonder about some of the things I wanted to achieve. The dream of becoming a mum felt, for some time, as though it were slipping away. With diabetes mixed up in other serious health issues, getting pregnant – and staying that way – was something I thought would never happen . But that dream too came true in the form of a chubby-cheeked little baby girl who I am so privileged and lucky to call my daughter.
Diabetes doesn’t factor into the planning and shaping of my dreams and hopes. I wonder if it just makes me more desperate and determined to achieve. Is it despite or because of diabetes that we make plans – some large, some small – and then go all out to reach them?
I get the power of self talk and I also like to be positive. My diabetes has allowed that to a degree. It has played out in a way that hasn’t stopped me. Saying ‘I can’ has always ended up in ‘I did’ because, as well as being determined, the diabetes barriers have been minimal.
But that may not always be the case. I hope that if –when? – diabetes does throw up more challenges and makes things more difficult, I never stop dreaming and planning and hoping. I hope I never stop saying ‘I can do this’ – or even more so, ‘I did this’.
18 comments
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May 11, 2015 at 9:49 pm
Mike Hoskins (@MHoskins2179)
Amazing how we accomplish things we didn’t think we could… same here. For so long, there were things I didn’t think possible as a result of D. But they came to be, and all the many stories out there inspiring us and showing the world “We Can” just goes to prove that even more. I still do think that D factors into my hopes and dreams, but for the most part it doesn’t limit or prevent me from achieving anything like it once did. Thanks for sharing this, Renza.
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May 13, 2015 at 1:53 pm
RenzaS
Thanks for reading and for sharing your thoughts, Mike. I think that the stories I hear and read are so helpful in making me feel that I can push through and I can achieve.
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May 11, 2015 at 10:56 pm
Karen
You are incredible and inspiring. And yes, I was quite distracted from reading the rest of the post after clicking on that Red Velvet Cake – my fav!!
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May 13, 2015 at 1:54 pm
RenzaS
Thanks Karen. It was a killer recipe. I had to take the leftovers to our neighbours once our afternoon tea was over otherwise it would have been me, cake and spoon until the cake was gone!
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May 11, 2015 at 11:48 pm
trainingt1d
OMG I need that recipe! Breaking them barriers down, I love it! Well done.
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May 13, 2015 at 1:55 pm
RenzaS
Ah – I love sharing recipes! I adapted Nigella Lawson’s red velvet cupcakes recipe and made one large cake. Do it! Thanks for reading, too!
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May 12, 2015 at 1:16 am
Laddie
I always enjoy your blog and today is another fab post. Love the graphics and also the red velvet cake. I was also diagnosed at age 24, but a long time ago in 1976.
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May 13, 2015 at 1:59 pm
RenzaS
Thank you, Laddie, for your very kind words.
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May 12, 2015 at 2:39 am
Kate Cornell
Great post! (and now I want some cake while watching a Marx Bros. movie!)
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May 13, 2015 at 2:00 pm
RenzaS
Are you a Marx Bros fan, Kate? I can’t begin to count the ni,bet of times I have watched all the movies. Thanks for reading.
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May 12, 2015 at 5:09 am
kelly2k
I KNOW YOU CAN.
And please don’t hold it against me, but I’m not in love with red velvet cake – I love the icing, but the red velvet cake itself doesn’t really do it for me.
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May 13, 2015 at 2:00 pm
RenzaS
I promise not to hold it against you. There are many other flavours of cupcakes at Magnolia to share!
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May 12, 2015 at 5:13 am
Erin
“Because I’m crazy enough to think I can” is totally going to be my new motto. Love it!
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May 13, 2015 at 2:01 pm
RenzaS
It really resonated with me too, Erin. Thanks for reading.
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May 12, 2015 at 5:35 am
#ICan – Diabetes Blog week | 7 years to diagnosis
[…] Diabetogenic: “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can“ […]
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May 12, 2015 at 6:36 am
Kelly Booth
I also love the “Because I am crazy enough to think I can!”
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May 12, 2015 at 3:01 pm
Feel the fear and do it anyway | Diabetes Australia – Vic's Blog
[…] Diabetes Blog Week (#DBlogWeek) and I’ve never written a blog before. But I loved yesterday’s blog by Renza at Diabetogenic, “I think I can” … and I thought this was the week to share if ever there was […]
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May 18, 2015 at 8:36 am
Continuing Connections
[…] decided to pick Renza at Diabetogenic. I especially liked her I think I can, I think I can, I think I can […]
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