I get frustrated a lot by my diabetes, and I imagine that I’m not alone. I make mistakes, I see numbers that I don’t want to be seeing, I deal with feelings that I don’t want to be dealing with. It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers and emotions each day. It’s easy to look at a CGM graph that looks more like a roller coaster than a flat line and feel defeated. To feel hopeless and helpless. But you can’t. Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow you can do better. Tomorrow you can try harder. Tomorrow you don’t have to make the same mistakes that you made today. Tomorrow’s numbers will be better, you’ll see. Tomorrow you will feel better. You won’t have those icky lows or those gross highs. You’ll look at your CGM and smile, not frown and shake your head. Tomorrow is a new day. And if it’s not better? Guess what, there’s another new day after that.

That blood sugar number that you see that you don’t like, it doesn’t define you. It doesn’t show what kind of person you are, how much you care about your health and taking care of yourself, how much you care about others. That number doesn’t know how much you tried to keep it in range. That A1c number that’s higher than you want, it doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t mean you don’t care, that you didn’t try, that you don’t want to do better. You are not defined by a number. Numbers are there to help you, to keep you on track and tell you what you need to do. They are information, data collected to help you be healthier and live better. They aren’t there to label you, to judge you, to condemn you. Good or bad, you are not defined by a number. No number can capture the effort you put into caring for your health: the worry, guilt, frustrations, sadness, preparation, vigilance, triumphs, determination, resilience, and all the blood, sweat and tears.

You are not defined by a number. 

You are so much more.