Often we go into holidays or gatherings on autopilot. We respond to traditions, nostalgia, and rigidity about what came before. What caregivers know is that life also flows with experimentation, memories, and flexibility. What’s also helpful are boundaries.
Spring is a great time to breathe new life into our homes. We feel a renewed sense of energy to take in more light and clean our spaces. One area in particular that can use a refresh is the kitchen. We change our eating habits with seasons, so it’s the perfect time to poke through…
“Your entire body and mind change in response to the perceived threat.”
Our response is often to flee. We’ve heard of the fight or flight syndrome. We create an answer that we believe manages the stressor and move on. Or do we?
Remember that emotional exhaustion occurs when we get stuck in emotions and can’t move through the tunnel. In Human Giver Syndrome, the giver isn’t allowed to express feelings, so they remain trapped and cannot move through the tunnel.
Completing the Cycle One important recommendation for completing the stress cycle is physical activity in the previous article on Fight, Flight, or Freeze. It’s a great first line of defense in the battle against burnout. Burnout offers six other evidence-based strategies to consider: Breathing. The breath is one tool you have from beginning to end…
2020 was a seminal year for collective stress and trauma. Often we “take turns” in our relationships, being in a state of burnout or stress. 2020 spared few, and the responses have varied from relief at not having to interact as much to depression, anxiety, fear, loss, and grief.
Working with caregivers, I discovered a helpful tool, a Care Map. This tool gives us a flexible, working “picture” of a potential or active caregiver situation.
When I asked family for help, I received vague promises but cautions of how “busy” they were. In the ensuing years, I’ve all but abolished this word from my vocabulary.
The call came at dawn on the first Saturday in May. A doctor we didn’t know from a town we’d never heard of called to let us know my husband’s sister was seriously ill. He suspected she had late-stage lung cancer. More testing would be required 30 miles away in an urban hospital. She was…
“Does this situation need my love or my judgment?” I wrote this on a small sticky note that’s on my bulletin board above my desk. My apologies to the source, one of the many trainings or webinars I’ve been on in the past year or two. It’s one of those phrases I needed to hear…
