"Those Who Cannot Do Teach"

For as long as I can remember, since being diagnosed, my momma has suggested that I try to work becoming a diabetes educator into my future. It's almost like it's on her calendar, like once a year she randomly (because most conversations with momma will be random) brings it up, "you should be a diabetes educator, you would be great at that." I would always roll my eyes, and tell her that I was most likely the worst controlled, most non-compliant type one diabetic in the world. How could I behave so dreadful with this disease, and get a degree, dress up and go to an office everyday and tell other struggling diabetics about all of the things they're doing wrong, and how to fix it so that they are doing things right? I know that all people are merely human, and that no one person is perfect. It's okay for a doctor to smoke a pack a day and tell a patient that they should quit, or for a doc that looks like a 300 lbs. walking heart attack to tell a patient that they should lower their cholesterol and take up daily walks. Somebody has to inform the population how to live healthy, and it can't always be a poster-boy doctor or nurse. But I do think you cross a line when you're telling someone they should quit smoking through a hole in your throat with a pack of hand-rolled, non-filtered smokes peeking out of your shirt pocket. It's not right, I don't think. It's a joke, and the sad thing is I'm sure things like that have happened (but maybe not so dramatically).
Lately, I have been thinking, therefore talking, about my future quite a bit (like all the time). Seeing as how my momma is basically my best friend, naturally the whole diabetes educator future has popped up in conversation often. But suddenly this potential occupation I dismissed so easy in the past has become more and more a serious possibility. This path I am on, that I haven't quit even though I still feel doubtful sometimes, makes me feel like a success, and that I have the right to help people now. I get even more inspired about pursuing diabetes education when I talk to some of the vets at the VA, many of whom are newly diagnosed type 2's, still nervous and unsure about this challenging lifestyle in front of them. I love the idea that by just sharing my experiences with them they might feel better about being diabetic, more confident and willing to make the changes necessary to live with this disorder. I could really do this, and I might even be able to make a small difference in other diabetics' and their families' lives.