This blog post was originally published on Hugging the Cactus way back in 2018. I’m sharing it again today because I think it’s important for people to know that they don’t have to feel sorry for me when it comes to my diabetes. Read on to understand why that’s my perspective…

Today’s blog post is going to be short and sweet, and about a subject that I think every person with diabetes deals with whenever they tell someone new about their diabetes.

It doesn’t matter how diabetes comes up in conversation. Whether it’s in a joking, serious, educational, happy, sad, or angry manner, the person I’m talking to almost always says…

“I’m sorry.”

Sometimes, I think it’s because society has instilled this weird reflex in people to apologize for something that they didn’t do. Other times, I think it’s because people just don’t know how else to respond to something that may be sobering or grounded in reality. But the simple fact of the matter is…

People need to stop apologizing to me, and other people with diabetes, for having it.

Here’s why:

1. It doesn’t make sense.
2. We weren’t given a choice – it’s a simple truth that we’ve learned to accept.
3. It makes me feel strange, because it’s almost like the other person is taking accountability for my diabetes.
4. I believe that human beings apologize too much, in general, and it diminishes apologies when they matter most or are most sincere.
5. I’m not sorry that I have diabetes, so why should someone else be?

While I genuinely empathize with and appreciate people who apologize as a knee-jerk response, I’m just here to gently tell them that it isn’t necessary. Save “I’m sorry” for times that it’s warranted, and not for something like having diabetes, a matter in which no one has a choice.