Written By
John Vandermeer

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20th Edition April 2007

By way of introduction I like to tell you that I was under very
much stress for a long time, so much so that it made my
medical situation even worse than it already was and maybe I
just was feeling sorry for myself. Then when taking a walk
through the park I realized that things were not bad enough to
feel sorry for myself! After all, I could still walk, and speak be it
not as well as before my stroke. I could see and I could hear I
even could think in a rational way, maybe other people would
not be able to do all that. So, here is a short story of my
experience in that park I went to.

You may say what does that have to do with diabetes? Well, it
did for me, have a lot to do with diabetes. You see, it was very
quiet there in the park and the sun was painting the different
colors between the trees and branches and on the leaves many
of which were only just starting to grow. I came to think, how it
was possible for those trees to year after year produce
everything new and fresh. Some trees grow hundreds of years
old and keep on producing as against us humans who may do
so for a very short time. My painter’s eye saw all the different
colors of green, a multitude of greens, darks and lights and all
kinds in between. The birds were singing their beautiful songs
and I was mesmerized by their variety and volume without
another human being anywhere near.

So why do I tell you all this?

I tell you all this because of the marvelous feeling it gave me,
because in spite of having diabetes for 47 years and on 6
needles per day , 10 blood tests per day. More complications
and just having had a stroke that paralyzed my entire left site,
the consequences of which I'm still struggling with, I was still
able to observe all this beauty that nature wanted to show me.
It would be far better not to have diabetes, but because of the
diet I live on for all the years, I'm not overweight because that
could be a source of other troubles, one benefit and there are
probably other benefits as well.

Then I had to think of other people with cancer and arthritic
pains and a multitude of other aches and pains and diseases
and also mentally like Alzheimer's disease and I suddenly felt
myself rich and lucky to only have diabetes and my stress lifted
away from me. I still could see and hear all that was going on in
nature and it was plain marvelous that I could, where others
simply couldn't even get to where I was. So I guess what I'm
trying to say is, that other people's problems can be far more
difficult to live with than our own.

So whatever problems you and I may have try to look to the
bright side, remember the cloud with the silver lining?

A WALK IN THE PARK!

John Vandermeer

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