Please do not confuse this with taking no steps or remaining silent. Instead, I think our entire diabetes community needs to pause and remember who we are, as a community, as organizations, and as individuals. There is a tremendous amount of hurt right now, and we would be wise to take stock because the world is watching.
Our kids are watching.
As someone who is personally and professionally experiencing change right now, I know change isn’t easy. Whatever the reasons, change happens. When people are involved, it can sting, hurt, and sometimes even infuriate. In moments like these, I remind myself why I entered this diabetes community in the first place: my kids.
My guess is that most of us would answer either “my kids” or “myself” and the millions of people living with diabetes. Along the way, add money, influence, size, prestige, and competing priorities, and the original mission can become muddied; even lost.
But the reason we all started is still there. That hasn’t changed, even when everything around us has. The idea that an organization can simply ‘weather accusations, public battles, and deep divisions until they fade away’ is as dangerous as believing that what one individual says doesn’t matter.
It all matters.
Calling for the complete dismantling of leadership or insisting that one side is entirely right and the other entirely wrong will only take us so far. Two of our community’s leading diabetes organizations have spent recent weeks caught in public accusations and conflict that serve no one living with diabetes.
Hasn’t the division we see throughout our country taught us anything?
If we only speak to those who already agree with us, while turning our backs on those with whom we disagree, we accomplish nothing. Hurt. Anger. Disrespect. Half-truths. Misunderstandings.
And yet…
My two children still have diabetes.
So do yours.
So do you.
I’m not minimizing the seriousness of what’s happening. Some situations require difficult decisions. Sometimes relationships end. Sometimes leadership changes. Sometimes moving on is the right choice.
If that’s where we are, then let’s move on with integrity.
Let’s not burn down an entire community while trying to rebuild part of it.
Imagine if even half the energy being spent trying to prove who is right were redirected toward listening, talking, and finding common ground. Millions of families who are not executives, board members, influencers, or major donors simply want better care, better lives, and one day…….a cure.
Before pointing at someone else, let’s all begin with the reflection in the mirror.
Our kids deserve better.
Don’t you think?
I’m a diabetes dad.
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