Diabetes and Things I am Grateful For

For five days I shared three things I was grateful for, each day. The mental exercise benefited me greatly, hopefully you will give it a try, and find benefit as well.

  • The exercise increased my awareness of the many blessings I have.
  • Look at my list, would you like to add any to your list?

Note: I did not give any premeditated thought to these daily posts. I thought about and wrote the posts each morning in a matter of minutes, often after reflecting on the previous day’s activities.

barefoot freestyle

The original plan was to include only 15 things (three things, for five days) but I could not limit it to just fifteen!! What can I say? I am a blessed man. :)

Grateful for a New Life with Diabetes

You should know, before a diabetes diagnosis, I would have had great difficulty finding five total things I was thankful for.

Thanks to a diabetes diagnosis and the resulting improvements in health, I have a new lease on life.  This ‘new life’ is possible because truly normal blood sugars are important for me.  If you are not testing your blood sugars regularly, you should be.

Things I am thankful for.
Blood Sugar Meters on Amazon

Things I am Grateful For

1. The Sun –  Feeling the warmth of the sun on my back… priceless. :) 

2. Friends and Family – without them, no telling where I would be. I owe much to both my family and the friends who support me.   Thanks to you all!

A small sampling of the ‘crazy’ friends I am thankful for. :) ‘Friends with the Same Mental Disorder, Priceless!

2021 Edit: I want to give special thanks to Kelly Tee… who has been a huge supporter, friend, confidant…  and is my current Chief Executive Editor, no easy task. 😄  Thank you Kelly TEE! ❤

3. My feet – I walk and run barefoot as much as possible.

Thanks to my feet I can feel the grass beneath my toes. Being able to walk, run, jump and sprint means much to me!!

Running on dew soaked grass barefoot … is a sensation I hope I never can live without.

4. Common Sense – Okay, I don’t have a LOT of common sense but I have ‘just enough’. :) 

I had just enough to realize that I needed to find a better way to live and I had just enough common sense to realize the advantages of a low carb primal lifestyle.

And love riding my bike, in nature.
Love sunrises – definitely grateful for these!


5. Sunrises  – For their beauty and for signifying a fresh start. 

6. Rain  – I love rain. I love to feel it on my back on a summer day. I love to run through it’s puddles. 

7. Good Health I was once an obese, big pharma ‘cash cow’. Now I am drug and insulin FREE! 

8. Physically fit  I worked out yesterday and later rode my bike for over an hour. Being fit gives me the ability to live an active life , which allows me to see and experience more nature. :) 

9. Setting Suns  Because I am active, I was able to witness a beautiful scene… the sun in a cloud filled sky, sigh. (I posted the picture last night)

10. Nature  – I love being in and experiencing nature. It can be found all around us but even in the largest cities there are parks where nature can be found. I’m lucky to have the mountains and the seas within a few hours ride. 

NOTHING recharges my batteries more than being in nature, barefoot and shirtless. 


11.  MarksDailyApple.com – I had figured out that carbs were bad for me… but Mark Sisson’s site MarksDailyApple.com opened up a completely different way to work, to play, to live and most importantly, a different way to think. 


12. Ability to QUESTIONING EVERYTHING! And I have Mark Sisson and Richard Nikoley of FreeTheAnimal.com to thank for that.

Seriously, question every single thing. This is especially true if someone or something profits from ‘a thing’.

13. DRIVE or Intestinal Fortitude!!! Previously I mentioned ‘common sense’ and the ability to ‘question everything’, these are both worthy of gratefulness, However without the drive, motivation and ‘intestinal fortitude‘ to GO AFTER IT!!!  … I would still be a drug and insulin dependent diabetic.

14. Willingness to Share – I am a ‘ham’ and coupled with a ZEST for living… I love to educate, motivate and entertain. 

15. QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE – a sincere, honest and open-minded quest for knowledge leads me to learn things, every damn day.

This concluded the original 15 things I am grateful for but in writing this post, I thought of a couple more I just had to add.

16. Diabetes  – How could I leave this one out? I am thankful for my diabetes. Had I not been diagnosed with diabetes, I would still likely be an obese, carb eating, couch potato. 

17. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR NORMAL BLOOD SUGAR!!!  (normal blood sugar for non-diabetics)  :)

Blood Sugar Meters on Amazon

 A diabetes diagnoses was a slap in the face that forced me to decide, “ I could either continue on my downward health spiral or find a better way and fight diabetes.”  

I chose to fight!

Here’s a post I wrote, expressing why Diabetes is one of the main things I am grateful for, ‘Thanks for Diabetes?‘.

Things I am Grateful For

I enjoyed the mental exercise, why not give it a try?  Three things a day for five days. :)

Without a diabetes diagnosis and properly managing my diabetes, the only thing I would have readily thought of before a diabetes diagnosis was family and friends.

ALL THE REST has been added thanks to diabetes and a low carb paleo lifestyle.  Won’t you join me?

Lower Your Blood Sugar Naturally

If your blood sugars are elevated and you cannot achieve truly normal blood sugars with diet alone…

READ MY BOOK! How to Reduce Blood Sugars.

managing diabetes