It is easy to focus on the things that you do not like about yourself or the areas that need improvement. When you focus on the negative, you forget about all the other wonderful attributes you have.  It is important that you acknowledge the things that you are good at and make time to do those things.  Examples of good qualities you may have include being smart, funny, kind, generous, creative, loving, caring, etc. Talents and skills you may have include being an athlete, dancer, musician, writer, artist, poet, singer, volunteer, etc. How much time do you spend doing these any of these activities? How will you make these activities part of your everyday life? A lack of confidence can stop you from trying something new or doing something that you enjoy. What would you do if you had more confidence? What is stopping you from doing it?  Write down the following sentence, "If I had more confidence, I would..." What type of support or encouragement would you need to try this? How would you feel if you actually tried this? For example, maybe you are a good writer and would like to work on your skills. However, you are not confident enough to write for your school newspaper. You may write,  "If I had more confidence, I would join my my school newspaper. I know that I am a solid writer, but I am afraid of other people reading my work. If I joined the newspaper, I would become a better writer and make new friends." Every person has strengths and weaknesses. These are different for each and every girl. When you compare yourself, you are often comparing a weakness you have to someone else's strength. If you continue to do this, you will never feel good about yourself.  When you find yourself comparing yourself to another person, direct your attention back to yourself. Remind yourself that you are unique and have your own strengths and talents. Go back and read the list of positive attributes, talents, and skills that you made. It may help to post the list by your bed or on your bathroom mirror. There may be areas that you would like to improve upon or things you would like to accomplish. When you achieve things, you prove to yourself that you can meet expectations. Setting a goal and achieving it can help build your confidence.  Write down your goal and then write down steps you can actually take to achieve it. Your goals and the steps you take should be realistic. Setting a goal that you are unable to reach may backfire and make you feel worse. For example, if you want to start running, running a 5k is a better goal than running a half-marathon. Trying to go from not running very often to running a half marathon is a huge jump, and you are setting yourself up for failure. A 5k is very realistic, and you can find a couch to 5k running program to help you set your daily and weekly goals.
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One-sentence summary -- Write down your talents, skills, and good qualities. Challenge yourself to do more. Stop comparing yourself to other people. Set goals for yourself.


Typically, if your blood sugar is out of control, you will feel thirsty constantly. You may be able to down a pitcher of water or tea without even thinking about it, for instance, when normally you'd only drink a glass or two. When the sugar concentration is high in your blood, your kidneys can't pull the sugar out anymore. Your body tries to dilute that sugar by pulling in more water from your tissues, leaving you feeling dehydrated. This makes you feel the urge to drink more water, resulting in you urinating more often. If you're trying to lose weight, dropping pounds isn't a bad thing. However, if you haven't changed your eating or exercising habits recently, suddenly losing weight can be an indicator of diabetes.  With type 2 diabetes, your insulin has trouble getting sugar from your blood for energy. Therefore, it starts drawing from your fat and muscle reserves for energy, causing you to lose weight.  Keep in mind that not all early diabetics will lose weight. You may gain weight or see no change in your weight, even though you have diabetes. Uncontrolled diabetes can also cause extreme hunger. You may find yourself wanting to snack all the time and in large quantities. At the same time, you may still be losing weight. Typically, this is because your body is having trouble drawing energy from the glucose in your blood, so it's making you want to eat more. With diabetes, you'll have more trouble healing cuts than you normally do. For instance, you may notice that a cut just doesn't seem to be healing over, even after a week or two.  You might also get gum or skin infections more often, as well as genital itching caused by fungus or sugar in your urine.  Unstable glucose levels can affect your blood circulation, which is why healing takes longer. Uncontrolled blood sugar levels can make you feel tired all the time. This isn't just feeling tired after a long day of work; rather, it's a tiredness that you can't seem to shake no matter how much rest you get. Irritability is a related symptom, as not feeling yourself can make you irritable. Because unstable blood sugar can reduce your circulation, your blood can't get energy and oxygen to your cells. High blood sugar levels may cause changes in your eyes, leading to blurred vision. This symptom may go away if you get your blood sugar under control, but you definitely need to see a doctor. If you experience blurred vision, visit your doctor immediately for a medical evaluation.
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One-sentence summary --
Notice if you need to drink water and urinate more often. Pay attention to sudden weight loss. Check to see if you're extra hungry. Look for slow healing times and a higher number of infections. Watch for fatigue and irritability. See a doctor if you have blurred vision.