being YOU & standing OUT, an intro

The birthmark you cover up or the scar you got when you were younger, it’s the glasses that you wear or the freckle on your cheek, for Zara Ramsay-Nortley, it’s her insulin pump. To you they are imperfections, they “draw the attention away” from you, but its these imperfections that make you perfect. They are yours and no one else’s; they enhance, not diminish.

Zara Ramsay-Nortley, the reigning Miss Galaxy England, was diagnosed at the
young age of three with Type 1 Diabetes, “TD1”. Type 1 Diabetes, per the American Diabetes Association is when “the body does not produce insulin. The body breaks down the sugars and starches you eat into a simple sugar called glucose, which it uses for energy. Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body.”

When Zara was diagnosed, insulin pumps weren’t readily available like they are today, as a young child she would use syringes to get the insulin she needed and as advances were made eventually used “flex pens”. For years she would avoid getting an insulin pump and although they have been around for quite some time, it wasn’t until eight months ago that she decided it was time.

It was a statement from her father that inspired her, simple, but powerful, “if you couldn’t see you would wear glasses, so if your pancreas doesn’t work, do something about it”. What would it mean if we applied this statement to all areas, what if instead of seeing our flaws as something to hide, we see them as something that we have.

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.”

Song of Songs 4:7

Zara’s TD1 isn’t a FLAW, it doesn’t need to be hidden; it’s beautiful and inspiring. At 24 I was faced with the idea that I might someday become TD1, I became anxious about the “what if” and there isn’t a day that I don’t think about it. BUT today I am not anxious, because Zara and so many others inspire me. They live everyday with TD1 and it doesn’t stop them from all they are meant to be. Beauty, confidence and who we are, are in our flaws.

February  25, 2017 is the JDRF Walk and I along with my daughter will be walking for those that we love who courageously live with TD1 every day and if you would like to help us make a difference please click here.

16 thoughts on “being YOU & standing OUT, an intro

  1. Awww this really touched me. I have gestational diabetes and have to do insulin with every meal and before bed every night. I know it doesn’t compare to an insulin pump but this has been a very inspiring post for me as I have been struggling a lot with having gestational diabetes. Thank you so much for sharing this!

  2. I had gestational diabetes and my father recently got diagnosed. It’s amazing how common disorders like this seem to be yet some people still don’t know about them. Thank you for posting this on the #fandayfriday link party.

  3. I love that you said, “What if instead of seeing our flaws as something to hide, we see them as something that we have.”

    That’s my favorite part of this entire post, and it’s so simple, but it’s something so many of us are missing. I didn’t choose freckles, they chose me. I didn’t choose to be busty, I didn’t choose to be short. But I can make the best of it, and I can love my freckles, my curves, and even my short stature.

    Besides, I’m not “short” anyway. I’m “fun-sized.”

  4. What a great embrace of dealing with your differences and making it the new norm. What an inspiring story of what one can still become, no matter what.

  5. I didn’t know that she had TD1! She has such confidence that I fear I would not be able to have if I had an insulin pump on me. I get really introverted about my flaws. I know that her insulin is no flaw and I love that she embraces it!

  6. kiyshia says:

    This was such an inspiring post. I thinks its vital to realise that beauty does not come in a box, it cannot be contained in a box! and you have just proved that. Thanks for sharing.

  7. Elizabeth O. says:

    It’s important that we accept ourselves for who we are. Those are not flaws, or at least that’s not how I choose to see them. Good to know that she’s trying to serve as an inspiration to others.

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