#inspiredbybatman

"My first day in grade school, I was plain scared. I left the comfort of my run-down house, which I loved, and went to school where it was cold, it smelled, the lighting was bad. - Michael Keaton #baskinmizeldesign #michaelkeaton #officestaging #inspiredbybatman

So I posted a few weeks ago about reading Diabetes Burnout: What to do When You Can't Take It Anymore by Dr. William Polonsky. This book helped me change the way I see my blood sugars and how mad I get at myself for the less than ideal ones. When I first started thinking about naming my meter to allow it to become more of a "friend," I thought it would be cool to call it Gotham. Since Dr. Polonsky also discussed the need to not blame myself for the bad readings, I thought this would be great since Gotham is pretty screwed up sometimes (or a lot). The criminals get loose, wreak havoc, and it's up to Batman to fix it a lot. However, the criminal activity isn't his fault (sure, there are arguments on how he attracts the creeps and doesn't kill them, but his mission is honorable, and his duty is immense). He has made it his responsibility to clean up the streets and prevent evil plots from being carried out, but he doesn't do this because he blames himself for the presence of evil in Gotham; he does it because he made a promise, and his goals are worth the incredible struggles he must endure. So I thought, "Cool, I'll name my meter Gotham, It will help me by giving it a name and reminding myself that this isn't my fault." But then I thought about it and realized I was using this analogy between Gotham and my blood sugar, so my meter should therefore be named after someone who informs Batman on Gotham's current condition. At this point, I have 2 meters named Gordon and Alfred and a CGM named Oracle, and my self-blame has really gone down dramatically. Yes, managing my diabetes is my responsibility. It is a continuous daily struggle of frustration, fear, and anger, and it can often get overwhelming. A lot of the time, I get low, and it sucks. I look at the 53 on the screen and get irritated. But you don't hear Batman say, "Frick. The Joker escaped again. I should have done more to keep him locked up or even killed him to stop this from happening. I stopped him and expected everything to be perfect, and now I have to go hunt him down just to get things back to normal. I don't know why I even try. The criminals always escape, and since my life is an endless cycle of seemingly futile work, I might as well just give up because it's my fault I couldn't fix it before." Nope. Although Batman has regrets and makes mistakes, he responds to situations and uses so much time and effort to take care of a burden that most people don't see or understand. It is a constant struggle. It's often life or death. The responsibility isn't fair to him. But he takes it, he deals with it, and he inspires. So for anyone else out there dealing with Gotham-like blood sugars or just the overwhelming responsibility of it all, remember it's not your fault either. Diabetes is a terrible criminal, but you shouldn't blame yourself for all the bad readings. Look at the numbers and appreciate the fact that you have that information to keep working through the daily tasks and improve the quality of your life. No, it's not fair, but some of us are given unexpected and undesired burdens in life. And the people who keep going no matter what are the heroes.