I've been  around since 1957. The real time stress of giving care to those in need has become a permanent state. If nothing lasts forever, then how will I get through these next 52 years?

1. Learn to enjoy life
2. Trust in the goodness of people
3. Share what I can when I can with whomever comes into my community
4. Find value in every being

The present challenge is to surpass all the support we received in the past with meaningful and timely giving in the future.

deliverables

4 PM Friday deadlines

It's a left-brained world out there

Navigate through the stressors of the modern day work world

and then head home for another dose of reality

If you're lucky there's pay for overtime

Appearance. Looks good. Life is not just some big damned experiment.

Appreciation. Make a difference. Satisfaction comes from choosing to help.

Apparently. No fault. Why can't we all get along?

Appointed. Rewards. I have a right to expectations.

Approved. Buy in. This is what we most desire.

I trust everyone celebrated a relaxing Halloween evening and then slept a peaceful night, with a full moon and an enchanted reality.

I trust people who believe that caregiving with all its difficulties— it will never happen to them (immune, as they might be)—were content to imagine ghouls, ghosts, and goblins to visit them from a fairy tale land, ring their doorbells, collect fares for passage, and then slip away mysteriously into the night.

I trust people, with hearts set on giving care to care receivers and with heads firmly rooted in the present, kept vigilant eyes and watched for other signs, waiting on more demands while wondering how to meet needs without support.

 

I trust people in leadership roles gave their all to create caregiver support for men and women but were unable to generate interest for men because one size of caregiver costume does not fit all.

 

I trust we will not need a better system next Halloween too. I hope the leaders will adopt the ITN concept (collaboration) and share their successes. I pray the men and women will finally wake up and realize we’ve got to help each other.

Thank God we've only got minor things to worry about.

Selfish Bastard
What's in it for me?
Why should I care...
There's nothing I want

If stressors are known to defeat you
When stressors are suspected to bring you down
Would you eliminate the stressors in your life or have them eliminate you

Start living as though stressors are useless chunks of tissue to be trimmed from awareness
You can't take it with you and even if you could it would only weigh you down, set you back,
hold your feet to the fire of a miserable existence

Happy, Frivolous, Innocent
Summit Times, Pinnacle Events
Wild, Zany, Crazier Sides
Scattered Memories of achieving "What if..." Moments
Proof from "Been There, Done That"
Ties to the Past
Departures from Powerlessness
Incentives to Dream and Imagine
Jest, Super Funny, Impromptu
killjoy.

Caregivers, I can't say it any more plainly than this: Get out of your freakin' comfort zones. This admonishment applies to anyone who uses lip service to say "caring is important" but then backs off when the consequence of that caring makes them too uncomfortable.

Actions speak louder than words. Both are imperfect. Both can be inadequate. Recovery from using inopportune descriptions might be assisted best when kept simple: "I'm sorry" followed by doing something to make a viable difference in the life of your care receiver.

Who hasn't known stress?

When you're on the receiving end, stress can result in both physical and mental health problems.

When you're on the causing end, stress affects both the receiver and giver.

Choose giving care to your loved ones for their and your own sakes.

We can't stress this enough.

Are there such things as...

backing into your daughter's car gracefully?

breaking an unwanted crystal glass?

bearing silence for love?

Wait for the Lord. Trust in the Lord. Be patient and be humble.

I’m not asking you to agree the format of CMfM would enable you in the caregiving role. I’m not asking you to abandon your issue-specific “comfort zone” to help people with diverse concerns. I’m not even asking “Do you understand how caregivers are constantly faced with making ‘just one more’ decision and struggle to provide a loving response after encountering each new stressor?”

 

“If you’re not afraid of breaking the widow most likely you’ve learned to hold back and move away from the glass.” Does this sentence make sense to you? My translation: A desperate caregiver needs to develop more and better coping skills. The fruit of leadership might be just one more tool to use in a survival skill set that achieves success. I am asking for collaboration with other agencies, organizations, and genders in offering alternate translations of ways to get things done.

 

In the past I requested sharing of umbrellas for support. Bad choice of words. You’re the experts. Please refrain from offering false hope. We can’t stop the rain. Obviously we can’t all fit beneath one umbrella. Sometimes we get wet. We need to do more to address the cause of wetness because dealing with the result of wetness is a moot point.