The differences among us

Diabetes is different. It's different from cancer, from a cold, or from any other illness. There are differences within the blanket description of "diabetes" as well...type 1, type 2, gestational, etc. There are different ways of managing diabetes....injections, pills (for type 2's), insulin pumps. There are different types of insulins to use...lantus, levemir, novo rapid, humalog, etc. There are people on 2 injections a day, 8 injections a day, or doing site changes for their pumps every 3 days. What works for one person living with this disease may not work for another. What works for one person living with this disease may very well not work for that same person the very next day! Diabetes is full of differences.
I think we have a choice in all of this though. We can either choose to embrace the differences among us....or we can choose to shut them out. In my opinion, if we shut them out...we are losing a very valuable part of this experience. There are always going to be people that see sunshine and roses...happy days and positivity in all. They will of course come across the same things that we do...heartache, frustrations with crazy blood sugar readings, sleepless nights, and ignorance. They will experience these things and for whatever reason...they are able to flip the coin over and find the positive in it. A crazy blood sugar reading will turn into a positive for them because it will have taught them how to work the situation next time and possibly get a better result. Sleepless nights will teach them to appreciate those nights where they are actually able to get a good sleep. Ignorance will teach them the importance of educating the world around them.
Those that choose to shut out the differences are not necessarily wrong either. In my opinion, they are probably realists at heart. They can focus on what is in front of them and know that the bad days will occur...know that this life is full of guesses and unknowns...it's essentially a life of living in the gray areas. The trick though is being able to find that light within the grayness...being able to not necessarily be complacent there...but rather make that space as comfortable and livable as possible.
I'm not really sure what choice I would fall into to be honest. We are nearly 4 years into this life and some days I am completely overwhelmed...exhausted...sick of it all and bartering with God to make this nightmare just end already. Then there are days where I am confident...I am in the driver's seat...I am making things happen and seeing sunshine all around.
Through it all though, I always try to be mindful and respectful of other people's feelings. I would never tell someone that they should change what they think or what they say. I would never tell someone that they are doing something wrong in managing their diabetes or their child's diabetes. I would never impose my views, my methods, or my way of doing things on others. I don't think it is right. I think the very definition of diabetes management is (or should be anyway!)...to each his own. While yes there are obvious standard rules to follow...I feel that we should all have a bit of respect for each other. Because really....there is no life like a D-life. We all struggle (whether or not we will admit it!), we all have down days, we all have moments of despair and exhaustion, we all strive to be the best pancreas we can be, we all want a cure, we all KNOW what this life entails, and we all love our kids. So rather than divide amongst ourselves and cause extra stress or hurt feelings....why not stick together? Why not huddle up and weather the D-storm together? Why not stand as one...fight as one...stick up for each other instead of put each other down? I believe having one voice full of a thousand different tones is much more beautiful and powerful then a division of jumbled notes echoing all around us.