A thought occurred to me the other day: While diabetes doesn’t define who I am, it has unquestionably majorly impacted my life. I started thinking about and writing down how it has done so.

My diabetes has made me…

• Worry endlessly about my daily choices
• Angry, sad, confused (sometimes, all at once)
• Become a control freak
• Sleep fewer hours at night
• Afraid about what could go wrong, and when
• Wonder whether or not I’ll have trouble affording my medications in the future (not just my necessary diabetes prescriptions)
• Believe that there are just some things in life I can’t do because of it

What sticks out to me about that list is that all of it is negative. So I tried thinking about all of the positive ways that diabetes has affected me, and I’m happy to say that I came up with a longer, happier list:

My diabetes has also made me…

• Knowledgeable about nutrition
• Unafraid of needles
• Understand my own body better
• Meet and connect with people I might not have otherwise
• Comfortable with speaking in front of large groups about it
• Become more philanthropic by volunteering my time and energy for certain groups
• Self-sufficient (well, slightly self-sufficient)
• Pack smartly when traveling
• Prepared at practically all times for any diabetes-related scenario
• Motivated to exercise on a daily basis to achieve better blood sugars
• Mentally and physically stronger

Diabetes makes me think about and do so many things that I would never dream of if I didn’t have it. A lot of those things are a pain in the neck and I truly wish I could have a break from them, but more of those things have shaped me into a well-rounded individual.

The good outweighs the bad, and diabetes has made me glad to have that perspective.