My husband was telling me about the girl who was “disciplined” by her father and got it on video. I guess it’s all over the internet now. It got me thinking about how as parents we want our kids to respect us, but do we really want them to fear us?
This, of course, made me think of diabetes. We live with this chronic disease, its frustrations and sometimes devastations. We may fear complications, but do we fear the disease? Or do we respect the disease?
I think it’s healthier and safer to respect diabetes. Respectfully we can manage the disease, do the tasks we need to do, think about what we’re putting in our bodies and how it will affect our blood glucose, be active and take our medications. Respect can lead to motivation, direction and commitment.
Fear, on the other hand, can to lead to anxiety and anger. This response is likely to trigger “counter-regulatory” hormones that just raise the blood glucose level higher and higher (it’s called the stress response). Stress can sap our motivation and cause a downward spiral.
While fear can also motivate (fear of complications), I’m going to stick with respect.