I Don't Want to Resent the Person I Love
Caregiving is challenging. No doubt. The real challenge of caregiving is freeing yourself from your reactions.
How I play the role of caregiver is primarily a response to my beliefs and attitudes. I don’t walk into caregiving with an open mind. I walk into caregiving with desires and fears.
I don’t see caregiving as equally significant to what else I do. I don’t see the challenges of caregiving as an opportunity. I want it to pass as quickly as possible without any inquiry.
Suppose I hold a view that values knowing myself and sees every experience as an opportunity to know myself. In that case, I might not be as fearful nor suffer as much when confronted with caregiving. I might be able to offer the person in my care more love and compassion.
If you’re a caregiver having difficulty in this role, feeling alone, frustrated and tired with no peers to share your experiences, on a rollercoaster ride of doctor calls and appointments, bouncing between good news and bad news, having more questions than answers, suffering as you’ve seen others suffer, having tried what everyone has said to try but to no avail, then you may be ready for a fundamentally different approach.
