The Diabetes-Butterfly Relationship
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about butterflies. I am sure you are all wondering what does this have to do with diabetes? LOL. To me butterflies represent change, there is even an old saying “Without change there would be no butterflies”. As we all know, butterflies start out as a caterpillar. A bug, not something most people yearn to have, much like diabetes right? I have never seen a line of people standing around waiting to get diabetes. But, we all know the potential of a caterpillar, the potential it has to one day become a beautiful butterfly. Just like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, we can choose to change how we see our diabetes from an ugly caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly.
When we are first diagnosed with diabetes, I think we all feel a little bit like a caterpillar. We know the road ahead is long and it is going to take hard work and we are going to have to be aware of everything around us, food, exercise, stress and all the other things that affect our blood sugars. We need to be prepared and willing to learn and grow and work hard. Our goal, like a butterfly’s is to one day be able to sail through life in a state of beauty and peacefulness. (I know it's easier said than done, right?) But in the end, butterflies are so much freer and more sought after than a caterpillar. I am sure if butterflies could talk, they would say it was worth all of the hard work, planning and preparation they had to put into their transformation.
For most people when they are first diagnosed with diabetes, it was a shock. Hearing those words “you have diabetes” probably sent a wave of fear through your body. It is a scary word, isn’t it? “Die-a-beat-ez” (I know I spelled it wrong but trying to show you phonetically how scary it is- it has the word die and beat in it). Although I have heard some people who say “die-a-beat-us” (which is even worse!). So how are we supposed to embrace this disease when the name alone is terrifying? How do we look at the long and winding road ahead of us with all of those obstacles and somehow find peace? Is it even possible to do so?
I am here to assure you that it is. Yes, diabetes is hard, but it is not impossible. I have lived with diabetes now for 35 years. I have been blessed with 2 amazingly wonderful children (something that for a few years I did not think would be possible). Having diabetes has helped to shape me into the person I am today. Without diabetes, I would probably not be in the nursing profession. Without diabetes, I would probably be a bigger, unhealthier version of myself (see carb counting is not all bad, LOL). As I have pondered how diabetes has changed me personally, I can say with 100% assureity that it has helped me to be stronger and healthier. I see so many other people out there, who suffer from diabetes, who are not doing as well. My dad actually asked me one day why I think I am doing so well while others are not. To me the answer is easy. I have made peace with diabetes and with the fact that it will be with me for my entire life. I could feel sorry for myself and resent it, or I can choose to find peace with it. Peace and happiness are choices we can make. Even in the worst-case scenario, we have a choice whether to feel happy or sad. We can be accepting or angry. We can find joy or be full of hate.
Yes diabetes is hard and yes it takes work to be successful. But my diabetes does not run my life. It does not rob me of joy. It does not inhibit me from doing anything I want to do. There are days it makes me mad and days where I wish I did not have to “do diabetes”. Overall, though, I can say that I actually am thankful that I have diabetes. I see it as a gift, I know that is a crazy idea, who would ever see a chronic illness as a gift?. It is a huge challenge in my life, but I am able to handle it. A challenge that makes me more resilient and kinder and more loving towards others. I have worked really hard to get to where I am today in regards to my diabetes. I have studied it, I have read so much about it. I have listened to the advice of others. I have listened to my body. I have tried so many things to make my life as easy as I can (pumps, CGMs, closed-loop systems, etc). I know that I can do this and so can you. Don’t let another day go by stuck in a cocoon waiting to start your new life, a life of freedom and acceptance. Let me help you to break free from those ropes that are keeping you tied down, and teach you to fly. I promise it will be worth it to learn to spread your CGM wearing wings and fly.