Transitioning Into a Season of Caregiving
Anchor Phrase: In this season, priorities are shifting.
Dear Caregiver,
In this chapter, we will explore the reality that in this season, priorities are shifting.
Before the event or diagnosis that thrust you into the role of caregiver, there were activities or roles that you and your family prioritized. Your plate and your calendar were likely already full before this happened. In the season you find yourself in now, you are likely starting to experience new ways in which your time, energy, and maybe even finances are needed. Too often, we try to maintain all that we were doing before while also taking on these new priorities. As a long-time caregiver I’m here to say that doing so is not sustainable.
In this chapter we will work through some activities in which you can begin to determine what can be paused, what to hold on to, how to communicate those changes, and how to acknowledge the potential grief involved in putting some aspects of our life on hold.
I’m glad you’re here,
reflection questions
- Think back to before your loved one’s diagnosis or injury. What were some of the top priorities that you and/or your family held at that time?
- What priorities are new since the diagnosis or injury?
- Are there things that no longer are or need to be priorities now that you are in this season? What are they?
- What feelings do you have about not prioritizing those things in this season?
- As you make decisions about what should stay and what can be paused in this season, what values or guiding principles can you refer to?
Guided Meditation
Essays and Poetry
Storms are Coming
I know that it only takes one storm to wipe out a town.
Our current ten-day forecast calls for five.
Nothing More Real Than the Life We Are Living
Our adventure won’t appear on anyone’s news feed. But in this moment, there is nothing more real than the beauty and miracle of being alive, of being in love, and of living to see another day.