Time with Others to Recharge at #HealtheVoices18

There will be much hugging!

This morning I grabbed my suitcase, my laptop, and headed for the train station. I am on my way to Chicago for HealtheVoices 2018. This is actually my third time attending this conference. I have attended diabetes conferences before, but this one is different. It is not a "diabetes conference." Those attending are online advocates from so many different medical conditions. It's overwhelming and awe-inspiring at the same time

I am honored to have been selected again this year. There are so many people who apply. I learn so much during this conference about others and their conditions, but I also learn more about myself.

I learn about my supportive level toward others. I learn how to take care of myself - not just my medical conditions, but also me as a person. I learn how I can support others. I learn to ask for help.

Over the next four days I will be surrounded by a type of love and acceptance that is like nothing I've ever experienced anywhere else. That is not to say that I am not loved and accepted in other parts of my life. I definitely am! This is different though. This weekend I won't have to explain what's going on. If I'm hurting, I don't have to explain why. If my blood sugar is out of whack, I won't have people patrolling my food choices or activity level. It is understood that I am the expert of me and my conditions.

This is my time to renew and recharge with others who get it, even if their condition is different than mine. This is my time. This is my tribe!


Disclaimer: Janssen covered my travel expenses to attend #HealtheVoices18. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.