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How to Find Pure Joy in Your Family Caregiving Duties
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”—Rabindranath Tagore The above quote summarizes how I felt when caring for my dear loved one during his illness. Joy. So, imagine how I felt when reading the following comments posted to my Caregivers Hub Support Group: “Will we EVER get to spend time with anyone besides this old man? I’m thinking I will die before my 94-year-old father does. I need out of this! I have nothing left.” Priscilla “I’m in the same situation. I’m 74 and mother if 98. That generation is tough, and was not…
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Your Illustrious Gray Hair: A Crown of Beauty
“I love to see old women. I love wrinkles. I love gray hair.”—Alber Elbaz (Israeli fashion designer) Seven-year-old Erica jumped, skipped, twirled, and laughed as she stormed into her grandmother’s house. She had just returned from Disneyland with her mom, dad, and other grandparents, grandad Bill, and grandma Alice. “Did you have a good time?” her grandmother asked. “Yes!” exclaimed Erica. “What did you ride?” her grandmother wanted to know. “We rode Space Mountain, Mad Tea Party, California Screamin’, and a bunch of other things! But grandma Alice didn’t ride anything,” said Erica. “Well, why not?” asked her grandmother. “Because grandma Alice has gray hair!” squealed Erica. Yes, Erica thought…
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22 Ways You Can Use Mindfulness to Have Better Health Today, Tomorrow, and Into Your Future
Not long ago, I met a woman named Bea. Bea felt so negatively about her home situation and caring for her ill husband of 44 years that she admitted to despising her husband and being tempted to leave him to fend for himself. Thankfully, she never went through with it and decided to stay. But what was happening to Bea’s health and well-being in the meantime? Bea felt shattered and hopeless. Because Bea had prolonged feelings of helplessness, she was losing her self-confidence and feeling stressed. Bea also experienced headaches, stomachaches, and anxiousness. Bea felt sure she was approaching burnout as she had little energy and difficulty completing simple, everyday…
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A 10-Week Plan to Learning How to Relax
“We will be more successful in all endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves. And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living.” –Thigh Nhat Hanh Towers Watson, a leading global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance through competent people, risk, and financial management, revealed its latest “Health, Well-Being, and Productivity” survey. The survey showed that of those employers able to measure well-being, 86 percent thought that stress caused by excessive workload or extended hours was the most significant to health and well-being. Do You Agree? Consider these facts: Fact 1:…
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Unique Nutrition Needs for Women Ages 55+
“Good nutrition creates health in all areas of our existence. All parts are interconnected.”—T. Colin Campbell They say you are what you eat, right? Yet, our fast way of modern living often means grabbing whatever we can and stuffing it in our mouths to fight our immediate hunger pains. So, we grab a candy bar or bag of potato chips and rinse it down with a soft drink—or maybe a beer! Whoa! What just happened here?? Sweets and snacks have little to no nutritional value. Making the practice of eating “junk food” harms physical and mental health. And primarily upon the health and bodies of older women ages 55+. Women…
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How to Overcome an Inferiority Complex
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in yourself! If you think success, you will be successful. Apply to your problems such Bible text as ‘If you have faith…nothing shall be impossible for you.’”—Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (1889-1993) Are there parts of your self-concept with which you aren’t happy? Do you expect to be rejected by others? Do you evaluate your performance less favorably than others? Do you feel threatened by people you view as superior in some way? You might have an inferiority complex if you answered yes to these questions. Alfred Adler (1870-1937), psychologist and founder of the school of Individual Psychology, coined the term “inferiority complex,” which he described…
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Stop Worrying! How to Break Free and Find Peace in the Face of Life’s Uncertainties
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of its strength.”—Carrie Ten Boom Meet Rosemary: “My sixty-seven-year-old mother had a heart attack last month. Doctors said it was due to her smoking and high blood cholesterol levels. “However, I believe there were other contributing factors to my mother’s heart attack, such as not getting enough rest after Dad died, her poor eating habits—but particularly worry. “So, after my mother’s heart attack, I got a little parakeet and taught him to say, ‘Don’t worry, mommy. Be happy.’ I went on YouTube to watch a tutorial, and the process seemed to be working. “Anyone else who is out there…
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How to Find Purpose in Your Job: 9 Steps
“Your work will fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”—Steve Jobs One day at work, Marian stood up from her desk and screamed! The other workers scrambled from their cubicles to see what was wrong. Marian’s coworkers found her trembling uncontrollably, crying, and sniffing loudly. Almost in unison, her coworkers asked her what was going on.…
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Start Journal Writing: 10 Benefits of a Reliable and Trustworthy Friend
“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.”—Christina Baldwin Are you a family caregiver? If so, how does caring for an ill loved one make you feel? Do you feel lonely? Do you feel fearful and uncertain? Do you feel grief, which is the opposite of joy? You are on an emotional rollercoaster. Caring for an ailing loved one can be overwhelming, thoroughly exhausting—stressful, and rewarding. Meet Doug: “I do not complain. I am a caregiver to both my wife, Ann, age seventy-three, and my dad, Walter, age ninety-four, and I consider it an honor and privilege to serve them both. “My wife had had a collapsed lung and had…
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You Can Choose How to Feel: 7 Ways to Create Positive Emotions
“The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful.”—Dalai Lama Someone has triggered you—hit your “hot buttons,” and now you feel all riled up that your heart rate speeds up, and your skin perspires. You experience anger, resentment, frustration, or other negative emotions. Before you know it, you find yourself off on an emotional rollercoaster. Ugh! Why can’t you be happy!? Is that so hard?? Good news! You can choose how to feel. Meet Lillian: “I have been taking care of Mom and Dad for nearly twelve years now. Six years have been 24/7 living with Mom and…
