Caregiver Chaos: Embrace The Good Moments
Yoga sounds great, but when does that happen? At 4AM when the bing bong (the sound of our motion detector) goes off and I have to make a case against feeding the horses this morning because we don’t have horses. After the breakfast when I have to try not to have breakfast starting over from the beginning up until lunch?
In the caregiving trenches. You don’t need another serene voice telling you to ‘find peace in your heart’. Sometimes there is all sorts of stuff in my heart and “the peace” must be under that but I can only look for so long.
Maybe you can’t find 15 minutes for yoga, but stealing five minutes to laugh at a cat video or guzzle an outrageously large coffee? That can be your meditation. How, can that be meditation? It’s focus. The focus you have on that video or coffee or whatever…as soon as you notice that focus happening, Congratulations! You are meditating. Pay attention to that cat video, that coffee that whatever! Notice all the aspects of the nice things that sweep you away when you enjoy anything. That is really good focus. It does a lot of good for you, but you have to notice yourself noticing the taste of the honey in that quart of frappuccino. Get into it!
sometimes you need not bother with the tender whispers of self-care. Sometimes, it’s about congratulating yourself for not wearing inside-out clothes (this time). Gratitude comes in strange forms, like being thankful that you’ve navigated another day without setting the house on fire …figuratively…literally…financially.
In the blur of your caregiving marathon, remember this: it’s okay to laugh when you find a support stocking in the freezer. It’s fine to feel pride at your ninja-level reflexes when catching a falling hearing aid. Through the chaos and the challenge, you’re doing the extraordinary every day. And sure, it’s a mess, but it’s your mess – and you’re kind of amazing at it.
And if you scoffed at the last sentence then you are probably even more amazing. And, Of course, yoga is always great, even if you only do few minutes of it here and there. However, dessert happens too. Why not make the most of it?