Admiring our Differences ~ Diabetes Blog Week, Day 1

I am super excited to be participating in Diabetes Blog Week, the awesome 2nd annual undertaking of Karen from Bitter Sweet. Today's topic: pick a type of blogger who is different from you and tell us why they inspire you - why you admire them - why it's great that we are all the same but different.

This topic couldn't have come at a better time for me. Over the past few weeks I have been going through a bunch of crap lately in my personal life and it has left me feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and depressed. Probably a lot of it is simply burnout; I've been working way too much and neglecting myself as a result, which, in turn, makes me feel guilty and more bummed out.

This morning, however, I awoke to a feeling of excitement for the first time in weeks. Lying in bed, I suddenly remembered that it was Diabetes Blog Week and before I even got out of bed, I reached over and grabbed my iPhone so that I could start reading all of the posts that others had written today. Funny that something so small could make me so excited, but it suddenly dawned on me how inspiring these blogs, and the fantastic individuals who write them, are to me.

So who inspires me the most? Many of the blogs are brilliantly written and give me hope and faith in my ability to parent a child with diabetes, and yes, there is a connection between D-parent bloggers, as I'm sure there is between T1 bloggers or T2s or LADAs, but each touches me a different way and I find inspiration from different people at different times. We are all connected by this disease, and while we all come from different background and may approach diabetes from differing perspectives and belief systems, essentially we are all deeply rooted together with a common purpose. Some of us may focus on awareness, some on education, some on advocacy, some on day-to-day care, but at the end of day, we all want the same thing - a cure.

And when I think of it terms of the end result - finding a cure - I realize that there is a silent group that we tend to overlook: those who fight for diabetes without a direct connection. I'm referring to that group of heroes that fundraises, and advocates and spreads awareness because they believe in the cause, not because they are T1 themselves or know someone who has T1. Many of these heroes might work for JDRF, or other diabetes related organizations, they might be diabetes nurses, or endocrinologists, or just regular people with very big hearts.

The diabetes community is made up of some pretty incredible people from all walks of life and I am thankful to all of you for your commitment and devotion, and for giving me something to look forward this morning, on a day when I really needed it.