- Image by Lyot via Flickr
I’ve been doing my best to reduce my carbon footprint. The footprint I want to leave in world is not one that slogs through a landfill.
Which makes me wonder:
What footprint would you like to leave behind after your caregiving role ends?
Your footprint could be the calming words a friend told you during a difficult day. Or, an understanding about how relationships worked that kept you calm. Or, a warm memory you have of your care recipient, frail with disease, but still lively with spunk. Or, your footprint may be the book that strengthened, the gadget that provided, the support group that saved.
In ten years, when you look back and behind, what caregiving footprint will you see?
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Tags: self-care
Actually, I hope that the footprint I leave will be the effect I might have on someone still down the road who is yet to learn of the grace and the difficulties that lie ahead. Every time I have to clean my mother’s bottom, I can only think of the years she has spent cleaning up my messes (some of which lasted well into my adult years) and I never heard her complain. As tired as I get sometimes of having to repeat even simple instructions, I in the end realize the patience, perseverance, gratitude and love I get for my efforts. God bless all of you who are stronger than me and help those who are not quite there yet.
Jim Charles´s last blog ..Eldercare 911: The Caregiver’s Complete Handbook for Making Decisions (Revised, Updated and Expanded)
When I read your post, it made me think of something my husband said to me several years ago when I was helping to care for an elderly neighbor. He noticed that this neighbor was not very appreciative and quite rude in the way she spoke to me, even though I was helping her. I told him I had to set that aside. He then gave me the greatest compliment ever, he said, “it’s not what you do that I admire, it’s the spirit in which you do it”. That will forever be imprinted on my heart, and I hope that it is the footprint I can leave for others, to be a kind and caring spirit to others.