Caregivers Support Group
A voluntary caregiver is a spouse, relative, friend or neighbor of a disabled person or child who assists with activities of daily living and assists those unable to fully take care of themselves. The challenges of a caregiver are unique and sometimes it's hard to find people to talk to who know what you're going through. Join the conversation and find others who...
how do you find the balance...
Between having expectations of them and accepting their limitations?
Between doing needed things for them and pushing them to do their best?
Between having hope for a better future and accepting your new reality?
Between meeting their needs and your other responsibilities?
Between allowing yourself to grieve for the person you once knew and remembering that they're still in there somewhere?
Between understanding when their condition makes them irritable and standing up for yourself and the way you deserve to be treated?
Between allowing them to figure out what treatments they want to try and telling them what you want them to try?
Between taking care of them and taking care of yourself?
How do you honor your own feelings about all this without acting like a martyr?
How do you allow yourself to feel sympathy for their suffering without either pitying them or allowing yourself to fall apart because their suffering breaks your heart?
How do you accept your changed relationship with then without feeling jealous of those around you who have the relationship you used to have?
How do you figure out what your new life together is going to look like?
I guess if we all knew the answers to these questions we wouldn't be here.
Between having expectations of them and accepting their limitations?
Between doing needed things for them and pushing them to do their best?
Between having hope for a better future and accepting your new reality?
Between meeting their needs and your other responsibilities?
Between allowing yourself to grieve for the person you once knew and remembering that they're still in there somewhere?
Between understanding when their condition makes them irritable and standing up for yourself and the way you deserve to be treated?
Between allowing them to figure out what treatments they want to try and telling them what you want them to try?
Between taking care of them and taking care of yourself?
How do you honor your own feelings about all this without acting like a martyr?
How do you allow yourself to feel sympathy for their suffering without either pitying them or allowing yourself to fall apart because their suffering breaks your heart?
How do you accept your changed relationship with then without feeling jealous of those around you who have the relationship you used to have?
How do you figure out what your new life together is going to look like?
I guess if we all knew the answers to these questions we wouldn't be here.
A person goes and looks at a tree....every day of their life.
the tree grows, gets taller, loses leaves in fall, gets new ones in spring...ever single day something is different with that tree...even if we can't see it. Everyday the tree is changing...growing, dying, whatever.
and that is life. every day it is changing. Remembering that helps me sometimes.
HCard & Blue are right tho......take it one day at a time !!
Hugs, Phoebe :-)