Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF version

The Gifts of Diabetes
(Part two of four)
By
Don Mario Ramos, C.ht.
Jeanine Austin, Ph.d.
© 2009

When I, Jeanine Austin, was asked to write a four part series on diabetes, I knew I would contact Don Mario Ramos, the well respected and talented hypnotherapist and life coach for men and who happens also to have Diabetes 1. The following article is based on a dialogue we had about the gifts of diabetes.
~*~

It may be interesting to note that insulin is the master hormone; the first hormone created that actually joins cells. When this hormone goes missing, a primary and fundamental function of the body cannot take place. Like any profound loss, there are always gifts, although they may not be easily seen.

People may ask “Why is this happening to me?” when they are diagnosed or dealing with the challenges of diabetes. When we ask why we often never get an answer. As Don Mario says “There is not a good reason.”

Good life coaching is often predicated on great questions. When dealing with diabetes, we may want to ask empowering “how” questions such as “How can I navigate diabetes in such a way that I feel even more empowered than before the diagnosis?” or “How can I live most optimally and help others to do the same?”

Some good news about being a diabetic is that it may offer an opportunity to connect with others who have also been impacted by diabetes. Don Mario Ramos offers that “While it might not be more profound to connect with other people through suffering than over joyful experiences, there can be real communion in joining to overcome grief and loss.”

Further, when I asked Don Mario Ramos about whether diabetes was the pivotal experience which helped form his value of compassion for others he shared that his passion for Native peoples has also helped to shape his character, but having diabetes has definitely influenced his passion for helping others.

“When you have a disease such as diabetes, you come to realize that you are part of the web of humanity, part of the tapestry of life, affected by the ecosystem. You are at seat of the soul” he says.

A particularly profound experience Don Mario Ramos had as a young child (he was diagnosed at age 9 with type one diabetes) was when he realized that many of his peers were afraid of needles and the pain they caused. He felt a certain affirmation in knowing that he had to use needles to manage his disease. He was able to relinquish some of the burden he had of having a “dis-ease” and began to embrace feeling good about the “ease“ of his mature management of his condition.

(c) 2009 Jeanine Marie Austin, Ph.D. and Don Mario Ramos, C.ht. (562) 686-4927
http://www.SimplyDivineSolutions.com