Hidden Fears

By Scott Coulter I hate going to the doctor's office. As someone living with diabetes, this makes no sense. Doctors and the efforts of medical researchers have made my life viable. My entire existence from the age of 15 to the present is ONLY possible thanks to the miracles of modern medicine. And here's another thing: There's nothing particularly unpleasant about my doctor's visits, OR my doctor. He's a perfectly nice guy who treats me with respect. And the worst experience to be had is a simple blood draw; not FUN exactly, but I've given myself over 20,000 injections in my lifetime — so I'm pretty much OK with needles. So why do I hate going to my doctor? The answer to that question can be found in the Star Wars trilogy — the old one, from the late 70's and early 80's, not the horrendous new batch we've been subjected to in recent years. In "The Empire Strikes Back," there's a scene where young Luke Skywalker enters a cave where, in the words of the grammatically-challenged-yet-wise Yoda, "greatest fears [he] will face." And indeed, he finds Darth Vader in the cave. They fight, and young Luke wins be lopping off Vader's head with his light-saber. As the head rolls toward him, Luke looks down to see the face behind the visor is his own. A dramatic way of saying that our greatest fears are rooted in fears about ourselves. What scares us "out there" is just a reflection of what scares us in the deep recesses of our own psyches. The deeply recessed fear that comes u...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs