Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Puzzle Pieces Inside Us

Because today was about the missing pieces of an entirely different sort of puzzle.
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So last night around 10pm I was emailing back and forth with someone (who shall remain nameless because I've yet to ask her if I can print her name) about the Diabetes On-Line Community, and she said something like: I get really excited when I hear about people who are bringing the community together. Keep doing what your doing, there are a lot of people with diabetes who feel lost out there - Glad your around!

And then I said something like: Thanks & yes, the DOC is so important. There are so many people with diabetes who have felt lost & then found again when they discover the DOC. And there are so many more who need to find the DOC in order to find an important piece of themselves in the process.

And she totally agreed.

So why am I telling you this? Because that's how I feel & that bit of the conversation has been on my mind all day.

Bottom line, we all feel lost sometimes, diabetes or not.
I like to thing that each of us is made up of puzzle pieces that make up our life and fit our body and soul. Those puzzle pieces make up who we are and what we believe.
And when our pancreases break, we feel like a piece of our own unique puzzle is lost for ever.
And yes, that's true. And that missing puzzle piece brings up all sorts feelings of being incomplete - If we let it.

But the Diabetes On-Line community allows us to fill in the missing piece and replace it with a sense of peace, (see what I did there? ) because we develop our diabetes voices, a strong sense of who we are, both personally and as a community.

And we develop incredible skills of empathy and tenacity to help anyone who needs it, including ourselves.

That piece of peace isn't 24X7, diabetes or not, that's just impossible.
But knowing it's there when we need it most my friends, is beautiful.

So remember that when your in the middle of a shitstorm, because it's like having your own electric Plow Boy to shovel through all of life's mucky terrain~


8 comments:

Mike said...

LOVE THIS.
LOVE THE DOC.

When I explain the DOC and how incredibly important it is to my health, I often talk about feeling lost. You're right to say that we all feel lost at one time or another (with our without diabetes). The reason that the DOC is so important (to me anyway) is that with my other "problems" or "difficult times" I could find a current friend or loved one that had been through a similar issue. With diabetes, I was stranded...the only thing I knew about was the horror stories from TV and people that knew someone who knew someone who knew someone that had diabetes and died from eating one brownie. The DOC has filled in where my immediate circle - my normal support group - has failed me (no fault of their own). I love y'all and I'm incredibly thankful for finding this support!!

(Don't ask why I used so many paranthetical asides)

Camille said...

Love love love the DOC too! Being french canadian I had to turn to my neighbours from the US and the english side of my own country to find confort. So last summer I decided to start my own T1 blog...in french ofcourse to help all my fellow french T1 freinds out there. I have to admit that the DOC is practicly non existent in the french T1 community. I'm trying very hard to change that!

Thank you so much for helping me for the last two years dealing with my sons D, you made me laugh you made my cry and you made me realize that it is possible to have a great life with D. Thank you for inspiring me!

In two weeks I'll be in Toronto, I've been invited to talk with the folks at Medtronic Canada about our journey and I'll be sure to talk about the DOC...and you! ;0)

Annie said...

As a self-described lurker, I hope all of you who post on the DOC realize how vital you are to me. I was diagnosed T1 5 years ago and know absolutely NO ONE who is a T1. It is very isolating, lonely and scarey at times. I love to read all your triumphs, feel sad and angry for your frustrations, give you support and prayers during painful times. I laugh when I see photos because I can identify many of you as if we were good friends. So thank you so much for becoming a part of my life.

Scott K. Johnson said...

Love this post Kelly. Thank you.

And I'm so thrilled to see things like what Camille is doing! Way to go!

Kerri. said...

<3 this. And you, my friend. :)

Meri said...

You hit the nail on the head. The DOC has changed everything for me.

Praying for pieces of peace to fit in place in every aspect of your life! st

shannon said...

pieces of peace! awesome! :)

The Diabetic Camper said...

The DOC always keeps me on my toes. I always love to hear about when diabetics go camping and they say my blog helped them aviod things they never would have thought about if they did not read the DOC.