Four Tips for Nurturing Yourself While You Give Care
Giving care is difficult. It takes a lot out of you and demands your time, your energy, and your attention. Ignoring yourself in that process is a really bad idea.
Stay as Positive as Possible
It’s difficult sometimes to stay as positive as you want to be while you’re a caregiver. There’s a lot going on and your senior’s health may be declining before your very eyes. That complicates everything even more. But when you’re actively working to keep your attitude as positive as possible, that’s going to pay off for you. You don’t need to ignore facts; you just need to try to see the bright side a little more.
Listen to Your Body
Have you been ignoring your body? Lots of caregivers do. When you’re noticing new aches and pains, that can mean you’re not sleeping well or that you’re over- or underworking your body. Hunger pangs mean that you need to eat. If you know that you’re prone to low blood sugar, you probably know what those signs feel like. Don’t ignore them. Your body can help you to nurture yourself throughout the day if you just listen to it.
Evaluate What Works and What Doesn’t
As you learn more about giving yourself the best care you can, look at what’s working and what helps you to feel better and what doesn’t. If skipping meals is leaving you with headaches and wonky blood sugar, that’s definitely not working. Planning your meals and snacks ahead of time so you know what you can grab when you’re short on time is likely to work at least a little better.
Set Some Goals for Yourself
Goals are how humans challenge themselves. When you set goals, you’re determining where you want to be with certain behaviors by a certain point in time. Set little goals for yourself at first. For instance, instead of trying to drink a full gallon of water every day, start out by drinking four glasses of water a day. This is especially important if your total water intake now is zero glasses of water per day. You want your goals to be something you can accomplish, so that you can keep growing instead of giving up.
You absolutely can nurture yourself while you’re nurturing your elderly family member. In fact, you need to be working toward both so that you can keep being the best caregiver you can be.
If you or a loved-one are considering hiring an in-home caregiver in Bethlehem, PA talk to Unlimited Staffing Solutions. Specializing in Home and Community Based Support Waiver Services Since 2001. Please Call Us for Your Home Care Needs (215) 447-7133.
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