It’s easy to feel happy on a Saturday morning in the summer, when the sun is shining and you haven’t a care in the world. It’s quite another to remain steadfastly upbeat on a slushy winter day when your car’s broken down, and your blood sugar is too high.
The trait that allows you to remain positive and hopeful during trying times is resiliency, and research shows that it has a great deal of influence on your physical health. In fact, some doctors believe that resilience is the most important mental trait when it comes to health and longevity. It’s also a trait anyone can cultivate—and one that helps people with diabetes to thrive.
Recently, a study of people with type 2 diabetes found that those who took weekly resilience training classes for just one month saw improvements in their cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and fasting blood-sugar levels—and they felt less stressed. Think about that: Here is incredible validation that improved mental fortitude can lead to significant physical changes in the body.
The obvious question that follows is: Where do I get some of that? Start by understanding the four common traits of resilient people:
• Seeing a challenge as an opportunity, not a threat
• Having a strong value system to guide decisions and actions
• Being genuinely committed to the people in their lives, and the activities in which they’re involved
• Feeling a sense of control, and believing they have the power to make things better
So how do you develop these traits? That’s the subject of long books, but boiled down, it comes to just two steps. If you can accomplish these, you are well on your way toward having a resilient attitude and a healthier life.
Step 1: Cultivate a positive attitude. Resilient people meet challenges by drawing on the strengths in their lives to build a positive attitude. No example is better than having diabetes. Don’t view it as a hindrance; view it as a blessing in disguise that has helped you change how you live in lots of positive ways. Many people who’ve managed their diabetes well say they are healthier and happier now than they were before their diagnosis. The disease helped them get their priorities in order. They have better habits, happier lives, and enjoying brighter moods, greater energy, and a stronger sense of personal control.
Step 2: Maintain your sense of humor. Laughter is good for us physically, as well as mentally. It makes us move (ever try to sit perfectly still while you laugh? Impossible!), and muscle cells absorb more blood sugar when they’re active. It also stimulates hormones that play a role in blood-sugar absorption. And of course, having a sense of humor makes it far easier to sail through the ups and downs of daily life. It vaporizes fear, relaxes your mind and body, and helps you keep things in perspective, giving you an outlet for negative emotions. So next time your boss, child, spouse, or mother makes a ridiculous request or comment to you, react with amusement rather than anger. And know that by doing so, you are reversing diabetes and extending your life.
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