When you’re a caregiver you might find yourself dealing with a lot of situations that make positivity a tough goal to reach. It’s not impossible to have a positive attitude, even when your situation and your senior’s seems dire. These tips can help.
Face Bad News, but Don’t Let it Derail You
You and your senior are going to get bad news, but if you let it completely derail you, that’s going to be difficult to come back from. Instead, it’s much better to acknowledge bad news and to meet it head on. Formulate a plan, get some alternatives, and make sure that you’re keeping your chin up. This isn’t about avoiding the truth. It’s about maintaining positivity as much as possible.
Avoid Focusing on Loss, Both Yours and Your Senior’s
Just like getting derailed by bad news, focusing on loss is going to be a big problem. When your senior or you experience a loss, no matter how large or small, that can bring grief along with it. Acknowledging that loss and that grief is important, but you need to be careful not to focus on that loss. Keeping the focus on the loss itself gives it more power than it should have and that can damage your ability to be positive.
Seek Opportunities to Express Gratitude
Gratitude can give you some powerful tools for managing things like bad news and loss. Keeping your eye on what you’re grateful for reminds you that there are plenty of good things going on in your life. One of the easiest ways to express gratitude is with thank you notes to people in your life. Most people think about thank you notes as something to write after receiving a gift, but they’re important at other times, too. When did someone last do something that helped you immensely? Do you feel as if you expressed that gratitude fully in the moment? Consider writing a note.
Keep a Happy Journal
Journals aren’t always easy to keep up with, so it helps to have a focus for your journal. One of the best types of journals to start keeping if you’re a caregiver is a happy journal. This is just basically a running list of the things that make you happy. Some days you might write out a list of only a couple of things, but other days might inspire you to write whole paragraphs. The best part is that when you’re having a day that isn’t so great, you can go back and read your journal.
You don’t have to be the happiest caregiver ever. But when you’re able to take some steps that help you to have a positive attitude, that helps you to handle whatever comes your way.
If you or an aging loved one is considering caregivers in Laurel, MT, please contact the caring staff at SYNERGY HomeCare Billings today at 406-839-2390.
