Type 1 Diabetes Poem: Today, I Will Start
- Julia Flaherty
- Nov 17
- 2 min read
Today, I will stop.
I will stop telling myself that type 1 diabetes is a problem to be solved.
I will stop telling myself there’s something inherently wrong with me,
that I need to be fixed.
Today, I will stop crucifying myself for my lows.
I will stop believing I don’t deserve good things—
that people stay distant because of the burdens I carry.
Because of the weight I can’t lose,
the frustrations I can’t compromise,
the bills I can’t clear.
Today, I will stop carrying the baggage of my condition
like it’s obvious—
like everyone can see it, feel it, judge it.
Today, I will stop making my disease about me.
Because there’s more to life than T1D,
and more to me than T1D.
When you live with something this constant,
it’s easy to believe diabetes is the culprit—
the villain,
the enemy,
the main character with an anti-hero complex.
It’s so easy to blame when you become your own pancreas.
Today, I will start.
I will start telling myself I am more than my disease—
that I can be redeemed from my burdens and lows.
I will start reminding myself that type 1 diabetes
isn’t a problem to be solved,
but a condition to be managed.
And while it’s not normal, it is.
It just is.
A fact of life—my life, and millions of others.
I get to assign the emotion.
I get to write the character arc.
Today, I will start acknowledging
that type 1 diabetes is my ultimate lesson,
my ultimate test,
my crucible that forged a fire of transformation—
the inciting incident that rewrote what I knew about control.
Today, I will start seeing myself beyond my disease,
while honoring its place in my story—
not the only part, but a significant one.
Today, I will start living
with T1D in the background,
a side character at best.
And I will remember who I am first.
I haven’t seen her in a while.
