The other day I was feeling down. Not just a normal down, but a MAJOR down that I don’t feel very often. I was frustrated. I had been having one of the worst blood sugar days since diagnosis full of rapid spikes and rapid drops, and the combination of that plus hormones plus stress was not a good mix.
I’ve always had a a wide social circle. It’s one of the benefits/downfalls of being “an introvert with an extroverted personality” (Read about that here). But over the years due to different reasons, my circle has shrunk. And it feels like since diagnosis and especially since I became a diabetes advocate, I’ve become distant from nearly everyone.
Just because I’m bionic doesn’t mean I’m not still human. It doesn’t mean I don’t need support too. I try to be strong but I’m far from it most days.
Musing in between lows, I tweeted the title of this post. Why? Because it’s a valid thought and an honest observation. When someone goes through something that is just too difficult to understand or deal with, the [unfortunate] normal human response is to pull away. Self preservation? Probably..
I mean, I get it. Diabetes is flippin scary. A lot of diseases and disorders are scary, and it would probably be difficult to be friends with someone who could be alive and “fine” one day and not wake up the next. That is hard for me to imagine and I’m the one that could not be here tomorrow. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t need love and support too.
So love a diabetic today. They might need that little extra boost of love and support more than you realize.
(Special thanks to my friend Amanda Arce who said the right thing at the right time in response to my tweet. Thank you!)
photograbetic 