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Showing posts with label empowered. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Sometimes I Forget & One Day Of Being Surrounded By People WithDiabetes Reminds Me~

Sometimes I forget the physical feeling of being surrounded by others living with diabetes, and what a high it is.

And there are moments I forget what it's like to be new to the diabetes life, because i've lived with diabetes, longer than I haven't.

And then I spend one day at a diabetes event and I am immediately reminded of how it feels... and how much I need it.

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Sometimes I forget how difficult and scary diabetes can be when you or you’re loved one is newly Dx’d - no matter how old they are.
Unexpected curveballs in life are just that - out of the blue and hard to make contact with - and out of the blue curve balls can be scary.
Parents want to protect their children with diabetes and make it it go away - so things can get back to “normal.”
But they can’t. There’s a new normal - it’s not a bad one, it’s just different - and it takes some getting used to. Also, once you think you’ve got D figured out - it changes on you - just because it can.

Children with diabetes, while incredibly resilient (and who more than likely handle that they live with D better than those who love them,) want to protect their parents from worry and feel guilty for the stress they see their parents going through - stress that they know is because of their diabetes DX.

Spouses, family and friends of newly dx’d adults want to support and protect - even if they aren’t sure what exactly happened -and that's a hard thing.
Newly dx’d adults want to be stoic - which is nobel - if we're talking about a character in a Dickens novel.

But stoic is overrated - being stoic is neither healthy or realistic when we’re talking about real life.

Lets face it, most of us are terrible when it comes to change, myself included - even when the change is welcome and very much wanted.
CHANGE. IS. HARD. And the changes that diabetes brings are frustrating, scary, unwanted, and hard to accept at times - no matter how long you’ve lived with it.
Whether you're newly diagnosed with diabetes or old hat and an old timer - you need support and you need to surround yourselves with others who are walk on the D path.

Why am I writing about this?
Last Saturday I attended the JDRF Greater Chesapeake/Potomac Chapter's TypeOneNation Summit in Bethesda last Saturday.
I meet people newly dx’d and those that had been living with diabetes for over 50 years.
I watched teens help one another to “figure stuff out,” when it came to living and dealing with diabetes - and watching those teens helping one another blew me away.
I listened to sessions on living with diabetes, the D family dynamic, I learned more about Tidepool, t1 software and data talking to one another across the board - SO DAMN COOL.
I ran into longtime D friends and Advocates named Joe Solo and Gary S, learned about I heard a talk on Beta Cell Cncapsulation from the Doctor who is actually doing it.

I had lunch with a group of adult t1s, including one of our DOC friends ( I'm talking about you, STEPHEN) and the majority I'd just met for the first time - and they were awesome.

I’m writing this post because if I need reminding, I bet you do too.
And I want to remind you that if you're newly diagnosed or approaching your 50th diaversary, get out there and find your tribe online and off - at conferences, get togethers, meet-ups, meetings, wherever and whenever you can.

It's good for your heart and your head - and it doesn't doesn't hurt your diabetes, either!

On Saturday I saw people who walked into the summit at the beginning of the day with a sense of fear and trepidation. Those very same folks left the summit smiling, empowered and happy - And that my friends is a beautiful thing~

Friday, January 2, 2015

2015: Copious Amounts of Honesty, Kindness & Hard Work

So, it’s 2015 and I’ve really given a lot of thought as to how I’m going to start off the new year - Actually, it didn’t take a lot of “thought” at all. But it sure as hell took a lot of being honest with myself, where I am and where I need to be.
If I am going “to do” and “become,” shit’s going to have to get real and I’m going to have to buckle down, make some scary changes and hone my life's navigational skills in order to live and achieve the life I want.
Bottom line: I need to not hold on to the fear of the unknown and believe in myself the way I believe in others in order to become the better version of myself that I know I can, and want to be.
Doing and becoming not only take copious amounts of work in order to achieve, but also require copious amounts of honesty (As I stated, I've got real life navigational crap I’ve got to figure out) and kindness towards myself (I may have real navigational life roadmap crap to figure out, but I’m talented, I’m passionate, funny and I cut other people more slack than I ever cut myself,) all rolled into one.

And I’m starting today to be the change I need and know I can be.

I know I will have moments where I stumble and falter and I know I’ ll want to quit because of self doubt.
But I know I will moments where I will overcome and I will succeed and surpass my wildest hopes and dreams.
And I know that you're going to have moments of fear and success re: the goals that you've set for yourself in 2015 - And that's OK, because here's the thing: As long as we don’t give up on ourselves, there's nothing we can't accomplish or achieve - And damn it, we are worth it!