It always around this time of the year where everyone starts reflecting on the year that has gone by. ‘In a blink of an eye’ – some may say. Isn’t that always the way? When January, February and March rolls by, the year seems to be progressing quickly. Come June, July and August, people are whinging that this has been the worst year yet and ‘when will it be over?’ can be heard. October, November and December appears and we are all in slight denial that the year is coming to a close. A few weeks ago, I was going through my older blog posts and realised that Bittersweet Diagnosis is officially a year old! Pretty exciting.
As I scrawled through posts, it was interesting to see what I had written about, things I had deemed as important milestones/markers in life. I also specifically remember throughout the year at various time points I have said to myself that 2012 has been a tremendously good year for me. Here are some of my highlights of 2012:
- Getting together with my boyfriend. (Pretty sure we heard a chorus of ‘FINALLY’ and ‘about time!’ when we got together) Cheesy, but thank you for being my rock and best friend and also for putting up with my madness.
- Starting (and finishing) my Bachelor of Food Science and Nutrition (Honours). The workload, experience, networks and new friends I have made this year through my honours project has my mind still reeling and I’m still buzzing with excitement.
- One of my closest friend having a beautiful baby girl (also my god-daughter, another highlight in itself) and getting engaged to HER rock and best friend. You’re going to pay for me your Maid of Honour and organising your Hens event (which, I’m sure you’ll love).
- OzDOC tweetchats. Why haven’t we thought of this sooner?!
- Oz Diabetes Social Media Summit and World Diabetes Day. I’m still buzzing with excitement with what the new year will bring following discussions from the event.
- My re-diagnosis. (Dear doctors, please make up your mind!)
- The loss of my adopted kitty cat. Some nights, I still expect to see her waiting for me with a disapproving meow when I get home late.
- Heading back to the gym and losing about 5kgs in the last six months and maintaining that weight! (On the downside, I am in desperate need of new jeans and pants because they all just fall off me!)
- Laser eye surgery. $5000 poorer but now when I fall asleep, I won’t wake up with my glasses imprinted on my face!
One of my resolutions from last year was that I would start building my networks with people in the diabetes industry. I had no idea this opportunity would first emerge itself through blogging, and later on being involved with Diabetes Online Community chats on twitter. It makes me think about why I started my blog in the first place. I was never one to talk to people about my feelings face to face, but I was good at expressing them in writing. I even wanted to be a writer at one point. I took breaks here and there from blogging and changed blogs multiple times over the years to have a ‘fresh start’. This was another fresh start I had created to write about my life with diabetes. It wasn’t intended to inspire people or to help people feel less isolated. Rather, it was selfishly about me and having an outlet to talk about how diabetes has touched and changed my life – just a place to reflect and think. The fact that it was propelled onwards to be featured at various places and to know I have been somewhat a positive influence on others, was heartwarming and exciting. But it was also extremely frightening. Particularly with the knowledge that people actually read this (not just my family and close friends, but people I had never met) I became extremely conscious about what I wrote at one stage because once it’s out in the interwebs, you can’t retract it. I over-thought the simplest thing and lost sight of why I started my blog in the first place! I have since always reminded myself of the initial reason to start writing this blog and will keep reflecting on things in my life – whether it may be diabetes related or not.
So, here’s a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has skimmed through my blog. I’m glad that by sharing my ‘pancreatically-challenged adventures’ that I’m helping others in some way.
HangryPancreas 