What do you do when your doctor tells you that you have diabetes?

Here are some tough-minded and effective guidelines that will help you face the “bad” news with strength and a new and more positive attitude about yourself and life.

1. Be upset. Yes, it is OK to be upset. Feel whatever feelings you have about this unpleasant news. You might feel angry, afraid, discouraged, confused, sad… be as emotional as you want to be… for 24 hours. Take a day to be upset and then follow the additional guidelines below. They will make all the difference.

2. Get educated, not depressed. Most people do not know much at all about diabetes, its treatment, symptoms and especially how to live with it. Education will give you power, take away your fears and help you stay healthy.

3. Get support. Do not be a Lone Ranger. Attempting to handle diabetes alone is lonely, sometimes dangerous and just plain dumb. There is an enormous amount of support available from all kinds of sources. Go to www.diabetes.org to begin your search for help.

4. Decide that this diagnosis is a WAKE-UP CALL. Your body wants you to take better care of it. If you do then your overall life will get better, not worse. Pay attention.

5. Do not go into denial. If you try to live as if you do not have this condition, you could become seriously sick or die. No kidding.

6. Get spiritual. Assume that difficult things have a purpose and a meaning and that there are lessons (and yes, even gifts) in this condition. Make an effort to learn the lessons and the gifts will become evident.

7. Lose weight. You probably already know this one, however, you should not ignore it. Weight loss can make a gigantic difference in managing or even overcoming diabetes.

8. Wake-up Call #2. This diagnosis is often a sign that you need to make major changes in more than one area of your life. Take this time to stop and do a self-evaluation. See if you can discover how you could make needed changes in your work, relationships and self-care.

[Ed. note: Dr. Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor (35 years) and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships. To find tough-minded, outside-the-box guidance for taking charge of your life and/or your weight including eating, click here.]

For more great articles like this delivered to your inbox, subscribe to our free natural health newsletter!