Dear Body,

Dear Body,

I want to let you know how very much I appreciate you. Mom and Dad gave you a wonderful height and lovely dark brown hair with all its radiant hues. Over time, your eyes have grown greener like Mom's.

I recall fondly when you were young how you really enjoyed sprinting. You were very good at it. I also remember how amazing you looked in that emerald green dress that Mom made.

I often marvel at how you work. Your brain is amazing - how it computes, processes, and retains memories.

I adore that your senses are so receptive - not only vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, but also balance, time, temperature, pressure, and chicness!

Over the past couple of years, even more than that, we've gone on some really amazing adventures together. I will always hold dear how we got up early one Sunday morning in winter after a radiational frost had settled around the countryside. We cross country skiied out into the woods where things were still and silent. All at once, the frost began to flake from the branches. The beauty of science is astonishing, is it not? We got to witness it! Thank you!

I want to take a moment to apologize to you for allowing the positive voice that we had nurtured to grow silent. When the voice stopped, I began to feed you unhealthy sugar which acts like an opiate. Sugar dulls pain of all kinds. I was grieving not only for the loss of Grandmother, but the situation rekindled the loss of Mom. I was defending her honor at every turn. She was such an amazing person! I digress. I gave you way too much sugar. While I was simply trying to cope, I realize now there were other things I could have done to deal with the outside elements of stress. You let me know that I was on the wrong path by blurring our vision and being fatigued all the time. Thank you for sending these clear signals that something needed to be changed!

Right at this moment, I am delighted I have the ability to physically write you this letter to let you know how very much I appreciate you and look forward to the things that are to come!

I know there are many more adventures you would like to experience. I want to do everything I can to make sure you are well rested and well fueled for whatever happens next.

I am working very hard to fuel you with things that won't raise your blood glucose levels. I feel as is we are already off to an incredible start because I haven't given you dead animal flesh and other animal bi-products for 30 years.

I mustn't forget to tell you what a joy it is to have you sing and play music. I believe we would both benefit if we started playing music again.

Also, you are very good at dancing. I want to take you dancing more. Let's plan on it.

I know we've been having a great time with tennis. I wish it was easier to find compatible partners. I will keep trying.

I want to do my very best from now on to take care of you. Together we can heal after this trying winter and spring. We are going to heal. Our βeta cells are going to start working again. I am overjoyed at how far we've come in such a short time!

I also want to take special care of the taste bud / brain connection. I want you to know the many pleasures of the world which are healthy and delicious. We never know when we're eating our last meal, so we need to make each meal amazing, decadent, and enriching.

I am listening to you, my body. I care about you. I have been concerned about that anxious core that doesn't seem to go away. Keep the communication lines open! Tell me what you need so that we can make the most of our time here.

Mom and Dad gave us this one life. We must live it fully!

I love you, my body. Thank you for being amazing!

Love,
Me

Mom and Dad gave us one life and we must live it fully!

I couldn't agree more Vegan. A very nicely written thank you your body. I believe that we are wonderfully and amazingly made. Even with diabetes we need to shed all the gloom and doom and learn to live happy.

Thank you for writing this.

Re tennis, I had studied Tae Kwon Do a few years ago at a school that was non-competitive, in that we didn't keep score, have sparring "contests" or anything like that. We read several interesting books on the subject (e.g. Alfie Kohn's "No Contest, "Rambo and the Dalai Lama") and, the last few times I've played, I've suggested non-competitive tennis to my partners and it can be a fun alternative that mitigates the need to be "compatible" because you are working to play together?

Hit, get warmed up and then keep the ball in play. It can be goofy at first but, once you get used to avoiding ingrained temptations to hit "winners" (sic...), it can be really fun to work together. The adrenline of competition is still there, because you have to concentrate to hit it back and forth 30 or 50 times or whatever?

Thank you, brokenpole, for the affirmation!

Thanks, acidrock23.

Actually, I'm the gentle player. I can't find anyone who just wants to knock the ball around for fun. I only know people who want to keep score or show off on the court. There is one person who enjoys a good volley like I do, but he's not in town very often.

It feels so good seeing how often we can keep the ball in play. I love it. I just wish other people did, too.