Firstly, a big THANK YOU to everyone from around the country, in fact everyone from around the world who contributed and sent us their videos (from Delhi to Chennai and everything in between those two, to even Dubai and San Diego!) expressing themselves and sharing their stories on how diabetes made them better. We shared so many wonderfully inspirational videos with the world and were forced to steamroll the January campaign topic right into February!

If anyone ever asks you what the side effects of diabetes are, please show them this list and watch their jaw drop in amazement.

Here are some highlights we loved :

1. Strength - From being a human pin cushion with the thousands of pricks and pokes, to waking up in the dead of the night to check if your child is alright and not hypo or hyper, diabetes really tests your strength and patience like little else does. Strength does not simply come from physical capacity and being able to move mountains, it comes from an indomitable will power which even the littlest or the oldest and frailest of us have deep down.

Check out Mini's light hearted take on how diabetes made her stronger :

Ritika tells us how type 1 diabetes has given her the mental strength to cope up with growing up as a teenager with T1D :

2. Healthy eating - As diabetics, we have to be constantly aware of what we eat since it has a direct impact on our well being. In the short term, we see an immediate result on our glucometers and over a period of time, we see it reflect as an HbA1c result and something that eventually affects our life expectancy, for better or worse.

By the way, our February campaign topic is #FavouriteHealthyFood - feel free to share your videos while cooking, eating and making the right food choices, with us on the link here.

I love what 14 year old T1 Soham's Mom, Krupa has to say about healthy eating habits that her entire family (including the extended family) now has thanks to Soham's diagnosis and Krupa's insistence on eating healthy. This video was shot after Soham (pictured on the tree!) and his Mom trekked with us to the top of the Sinhgad Fort in Pune for the very first time in their lives! Isn't that incredible?

3. Exercise - Exercise is good for Type 1s, type 2s and type zeroes. Enough said. Need motivation? Check out what Yuvaan has to say. He is a track and swimming champ at school and in district level competitions.

4. Family gets stronger - It is not just the person with diabetes who must pull up their socks and get stronger, physically and mentally, it is the entire family! Parents, siblings, spouses, everybody steps up to the occasion and puts their best foot forward always.

Strong Mom Pragya from Ahmedabad shares her take on how T1D made her whole family diligent, courageous and capable of strengths they never thought they would have. Seems familiar?

5. Fun - Wait, did no one tell you yet? It is very important to have a good laugh every once in a while! How good you feel is how good you will treat yourself and others around you. It is very easy to get taken in whole by the diabetes giant and remain sombre and serious. Remember to take time out to relax and have fun amid all the madness of life and diabetes management, like 3 year old T1 Revaant in the video below. Watching this clip is going to make you chuckle, I guarantee that!

6. Compassion - Kindness and compassion are little things that go a long way. Who better to practice it than someone who has been on both sides of the divide?

7. Discipline - Nothing spells discipline like a diabetes regime, hey both 'Discipline' and 'Diabetes' even start with the same letter, 'D'!

Watch little Charu the Warrior Princess, as no temptation, large or small, shakes her discipline of eating what is good for her. Great job, Mom and the rest of the family!

8. Making friends - We have all felt the need to reach out to a like minded community and meet others like us. Whether we are newly diagnosed and just need a shoulder to cry on or we have been in the game too long and have started ignoring ourselves and our health, we all need a friend (or two or hundred) to nudge us in the right direction with love. Know that you are not alone, there are others like you and I and we are all in this together. We hope you are also part of Diabuddy, our Facebook support group for diabetics. Come join, make friends, find an accountability partner and push each other to be the best.

Watch Siddharth from Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra tell us how he felt at ease and just like home meeting other type 1 diabetics at the Pune Type One Runs (check out our Facebook group with all the fun photos and videos here) :

9. Acceptance - A wise one once said, "Diabetes taught me life lessons". Acceptance is one of those things that T1D has taught all of us. True happiness can exist only in acceptance. Self acceptance (and acceptance of situations and people around you) is a process, give yourself time to grow and see what you turn into.

Check out Monty's words of wisdom :

10. Purpose - Last but not the least (at all), did you really live at all if you lived your life without purpose? Think about it.

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