Reaching Into The Dark.

"Dare to reach your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light." - Norman B. Rice

So many that advocate for diabetes, and who have found the incredible support system online referred to the "DOC", have a dilemma.

We didn't start out being these mostly-well-adjusted, dealing-with-our-feelings, know-we're-not-alone-and-never-have-to-be kind of people. (Well, some of us might have started out that way. I know I didn't.)

There was a time where many of us felt like the only person with diabetes in their zip code. We may have been the only ones in our lives who had to deal with this malicious, manipulative monster every day.

At some point we found the DOC, and we came to realize that we weren't alone in this. We found value in sharing our experiences, words of support and good deeds with one another. Community and validation can help us emotionally, spiritually, and physically. We find courage and motivation; laughter and healing. We think, "Me too!", and a whole other world of possibilities opens. We think, "maybe I can do this."

Pretty powerful, isn't it?

So that's where this dilemma comes in - there's only a very small portion of "us" (the "us" being people with diabetes) who have this support available to them. For a variety of reasons, the overwhelming majority of PWDs either don't know about the support they can find online, or they don't have access to it. The dilemma becomes: how do we reach the unreachable?

The latter issue is probably beyond our control. The former, however, we can work on.

In an effort to do just that, I've added a resource available to anyone who would like to help spread the word offline about the You Can Do This Project. Thanks to the graphic designing wizardry of Meredith, there now exists a flyer that can be downloaded and printed from the You Can Do This Project website. It explains a little bit about what the project is, lists the URLs for the website and YouTube channel, and puts a few faces to the name of the project.

This way, you have something tangible and ready-to-go (just download it and print as many copies as you want) for the times you'd like to spread the word about You Can Do This.

I hope it's a helpful resource, and I'd love to hear where it gets distributed, if you choose to share it!

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This week's Hope Paige giveaway winner is "Grammie"!

Her comment was:

"Grammie said...

Love all the YCDTP videos and blogs, and I love the cute Med Id's would love to win one.

July 28, 2011 4:38 PM"

Congratulations! "Grammie", please send me an email at textingmypancreas (at) gmail (dot) com with your contact information (phone number and preferred email address for communicating with Hope Paige), and I'll get the ball rolling on your new medical ID!