Grateful by Poet Lorraine Brooks

The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic talks about the positive impact that practicing gratitude has on living with diabetes on Diabetes Late Nite with Poet Lorraine Brooks.

Expressing, or being in a state of, gratitude often requires reframing our current situation through mindfulness, or acute awareness, of how fortunate many of us are in our lives.

Research supports the fact that having more gratitude, or being in a state of gratitude more often, has been associated with increased quality of life, general happiness, better self-esteem and less depression.

 

Grateful by Lorraine Brooks

shopping in cities with big crazy malls,

answering emails and returning calls…

holiday parties with glitter and mirth,

visiting family from all round the earth.

hustle and bustle and running around

no time for resting – no time to sit down.

but is that really what this is about?

is Christmas supposed to be knocking us out?

to me it’s about, not the drinks and the food,

but rather the time we spend doing things good.

to me it’s about, not the presents and toys,

but rather the gratefulness, prayers, and joys.

The messages Christmas and Channukah do,

are peace, love, and kindness,

And thankfulness too.

Same thing with Kwanzaa and all of the rest.

they show us that gratitude’s always the best.

that Jesus’ family could not find a bed…

it meant he was born in a manger instead.

that oil that was barely enough to give light,

provided the comfort and warmth for 8 nights.

and instead of remembering why this is relevant,

we call out our brethren, and do things malevolent.

regardless the challenge we face day to day,

we’ve got to be thankful we’re really OK.

we’ve got to give thanks we have things we can use,

and we’ve got to give thanks we have freedom to choose.

I choose to be grateful for all that I’ve got

and not to be jealous of things I have not.

I’m grateful for numbers that stay in the range,

and try not to worry about things I cant change.

I’m grateful for meters, and lancets and pumps,

and people who help keep me out of the dumps.

I’m grateful for lights and the cool decorations,

and for holiday treats, if I use moderation.

I’m grateful i still have the will to succeed…

I have more than I hoped for, and more than I need.

so lets all make a promise to stop being hateful…

and focus on staying eternally grateful.

Reinforcing the relationship between gratitude and depression, new clinical research demonstrates that using a self-paced online training to increase gratitude directly improved mood and reduced symptoms of depression in adults with diabetes. As depression is a known barrier to improving self care (i.e., making dietary changes or getting more physical activity), learning to practice more gratitude may be a strategy toward behavior change for those with diabetes.

LISTEN: Diabetes Late Nite inspired by P.M. Dawn featuring games and prizes. Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Mama Rose Marie, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach, Lynette Luckers from the Marion Luckers Kidney Foundation, Chef Robert Lewis aka ‘The Happy Diabetic’, Janis Roszler, RD, CDE, FAND and Leon Petrossian. Hosted by Mr. Divabetic.

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