Category: Renewal

6/22/2013

When You Reach the End of the Caregiving Rope

Are you a family caregiver at the end of your proverbial rope? If the answer is yes, hang on and read on! You have options:

1.      You can tie a knot in the end of the rope and hang on for dear life in hopes that some miraculous rescue will occur before your strength gives out and you fall into the abyss of overwhelm, frustration and caregiver burnout below. (I don’t recommend this option, since, in my experience miraculous rescuers are few and I usually go for a more proactive option, anyway. Plus, if you fall and hit the rocks below, it really hurts!)

2.      You can tie a noose with the rope and figuratively hang yourself, in essence, giving up your own precious life by giving in to negativity, depression, and despair. By giving up, you shift all responsibility for caregiving to someone else and abdicate your role. (I certainly don’t recommend this option, since I believe whole-heartedly in Life with a capital “L” and that love has amazing powers to heal and keep us whole! But you would be surprised how many people choose this)

3.      You can swing on the rope trying to clear the canyon of caregiver destruction beneath you and get on solid ground. (This is a marginally better choice than #1 or #2, but still doesn’t work for me)

4.      You can use the rope to make a hammock of support beneath you – a place you can relax, rest and renew your strength, inner resources, and commitment to the caregiving journey. Eventually, your rope hammock can become a rope bridge allowing you to safely navigate across the caregiver chasm and keep your life and sanity in the process. (Now, I admit I am biased, but this is the one I would choose.)

This post is an excerpt from my soon-to-be-published ebook, which provides practical tips and gentle self-care and self-nurturing techniques to make life less of a struggle and more of a loving learning experience. If you are tired of struggling and dangling your way through the uncertainties of caregiving, please sign up to receive a release notice when Sanity Savers: For Caregivers at the End of Their Rope is published. Find support for a more balanced, healthy, life-enhancing approach to giving care – a hopeful, positive way that includes you along with your care-receiver.

8/31/2012

Letting the Well Fill Up

There's a lovely Southern expression, "Letting the well fill up", which means that you have to stop drawing water from the well in order to allow it time to replenish. I love this image! It surely applies to caregivers as a perfect metaphor for allowing ourselves the time to renew, reinvigorate, reach out for inspiration -- to have a respite from our cares and caregiving so that we can let our resources of love, energy, enthusiasm, and compassion be recharged from the inside out. To pause and "let the well fill up" with grace and guidance. Whatever your spiritual tradition, take the time you need to connect to your Source in prayer and meditation with heartfelt trust that the well will be filled to overflowing for you. And open your heart to receive the blessings!

Max Highstein has created a soothing, relaxing guided meditation called The Healing Well. To hear a sample of this and his other guided meditations with beautiful music, please visit www.guidedimagerydownloads.com

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Photos used under Creative Commons from Beverly & Pack, ☺ Lee J Haywood, kev-shine, B4bees, MPD01605, limaoscarjuliet, Thirteen Of Clubs, Darren Shilson, erix!

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