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Managing The Stress ~ Making The Decisions ~ Discovering The Meaning |
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Caregiving |
Solutions To Your Caregiving Situations Throughout Your Caregiving Years |
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Find what you’ve lost A common side effect of caregiving is "loss of self": Focusing so much on the care recipient for so long that you forget you have your own needs and interests. To help you remember to nurture your own soul, we've included some ideas on ways you can find yourself: 1. Keep a journal about your caregiving experiences. Talk about the experiences you have as a caregiver, what you like and what you dislike. Don't hold back--this journal is for your eyes only. The journal will remind you of your own feelings--and will be an effective way to release any negative feelings, which are perfectly normal, you might have. 2. Maintain a "hopes" list. Keep a list of answers to this question: If you had an extra hour of time, how would you fill it? Then, when that extra hour materializes, you'll have plenty of ideas of how to enjoy yourself. 3. Strive to maintain those relationships that make you feel good. Keep in touch with those family members and friends that make you laugh, sometimes cry, and who encourage you to do for yourself. Be a good friend, in turn, to those good friends. 4. Continue learning, either through classes at your local community college, through television or radio programs, or through the Internet. 5. Commit to spending a certain amount of time each day, each week and each month to an activity that you enjoy. |
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