Clean It Out

Some old 'D' items from the depths of my cupboards

Come July this year I will mark 30 years on this planet, 20 years of which diabetes has traveled with me. Diabetically speaking, that's a lot of syringes, lancets, and insulin cartridges, pen needles, blood strips, blood meters and log books. Included in that time has also been quite a few transfers to various doctors, specialists and schools, alongside a few travel adventures.

So when I recently, not just moved out of the family home (after moving back in with the passing of my mother), but had to sort through everything within its walls in order to sell the house and downsize my family's life, I was confronted with many a D memory. There were Instructional DVDs from how to understand carb exchanges and general life with Type 1, to folders and folders of blood sugars, blood test results, referral letters and travel docs. There were certificates for being brave from doctors, and certificates from camps for being a good sport. There was every blood meter I'd ever had, expired needles, and lancets for prickers long lost. There were bits and bobs from expos and diabetes centers that I never really used and others that had blood stains from one end to the other.

Saying goodbye was both extremely hard yet deeply rewarding

In light of trying to take some of the weigh out of my life, I ended up throwing a lot of it away. To some it might not sound like a big deal, but I can assure you I found it tough. There was so much emotion attached to a lot of those things. The first finger pricker I'd ever had, the first camp I went to, the years my mum had spent sharing my diabetes with me. But I knew the way forward, the healthiest way forward for me, was to let it go.

While it was nice to look over some of it, thinking of how far I'd come; reminiscing, I've come to realise that my memories, love and happiness can be held in my head and my heart (and in a few photos or on hard drives!). I don't need to be dragging endless boxes of stuff around the countryside with me for them to have existed.

There is a bright future ahead of me, reaching out to be explored, with its blank pages yearning for more adventures and memories.

Selling our home and ridding my life of so much possession weight has been another major step in what has been a soul-searching, life-altering, character-shaping few years in my life. A step that I am still working on and that, while tough, has been refreshingly rewarding both physically and emotionally.

This Post was written as part of Diabetes Blog Week 2015

Click for the Clean it Out - Wednesday 5/13 Link List.
Yesterday we kept stuff in, so today let's clear stuff out.  What is in your diabetic closet that needs to be cleaned out?  This can be an actual physical belonging, or it can be something you're mentally or emotionally hanging on to.  Why are you keeping it and why do you need to get rid of it?  (Thank you Rick of RA Diabetes for this topic suggestion.)