There are those who pride themselves in avoiding all forms of social media. That’s fine. Taken to an extreme, we are apt to have permanently bent over necks and backs as we gaze at our phones instead of looking up or out at the world in the first person.
Checking on the latest news in my respective feeds is something I do have to rein in from time to time. There is the element of becoming addicted.
But hearing the daily “Banjoy” from George Oliver as he plays a short banjo ditty from his front porch or seeing the latest photograph or drone video from photographer friends, Elaine Varley, Sue Williams, Steve Smith, and Ben Linderman, and my day is brighter.
Then, a friend will post an inspiring thought I might share as well.
Some posts seem to come around every so often. I appreciate the repeated messages of hope and love. Often, they seem to appear just when I need them.
Then, there’s this poem that found its way to my Facebook feed again earlier this month. Perhaps you, too, have seen it:
HEY GOD – Author, John Roedel
Me: Hey God
God: Hello …
Me: I’m falling apart. Can you put me back together?
God: I would rather not.
Me: Why?
God: Because you aren’t a puzzle.
Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground?
God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces back.
Me: You don’t understand! I’m breaking down!
God: No – you don’t understand. You are breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren’t falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don’t need any more to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don’t fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go.
Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?
God: Only the very best pieces of you.
Me: I’m scared of changing.
God: I keep telling you – YOU AREN’T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!
Me: Becoming who?
God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don’t change! … Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I’m going to keep telling you this until you remember it.
Me: There goes another piece.
God: Yep. Let it be.
Me: So … I’m not broken?
God: Of course Not! – but you are breaking like the dawn. It’s a new day. Become!! Become!!
Becoming is our everyday state, our journey. My appreciation for the state of becoming increases with each passing year – it’s a part of gaining perspective.
It’s easy to see the uncomfortable changing processes on the heels of tragedy, grief, loss, or enormous positive shifts in our lives. But the subtleties of cleaning out a closet cannot be ignored as we let go, realizing we no longer need this or that.
This becoming thing has lessons for us on cosmic, earthly, and on mundane levels.
The words of John Roedel are resonating with me to the point I have now purchased two of his books and am following him on Facebook. The details of the birth of his writing journey may inspire your own life journey. Check him out HERE.
Just wanted to share something of value with you today.
In health-
Deidre
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Sometime this week, I will dump out the contents of my 2021’s Blessing Jar.
There, strewn across the counter, will be small pieces of paper – each with a notation about a blessing that came my way in the past year.
Random things.
Sometimes it’s a happy touch of unexpected sunshine on my face on a cool fall day. Perhaps the blessing came in meeting someone special.
A blessing can also come from knowing I had been a blessing to someone else.
The process of pausing beside the Blessings Jar occasionally to note recent positives helps to keep me focused on the good – the positive – and on the opportunities to give and receive blessings.
And, wow, what an amazing experience it is to revisit a year’s worth of blessings in one sitting!
The blessings are there all the time – even in challenging and life-changing circumstances. Bad health? How about the nurse who took extra care in helping you? Difficult times at work? Maybe you found a way to overcome obstacles, or maybe you found a better position.
In this time of reflection, my thoughts have been boosted by two authors whose writings crossed my path recently.
One involves the realization there are more years behind me than there are ahead of me. Truly absorbing this reality colors my choices in how I want to spend my limited currency of precious moments. Trivial pursuits/people/conversations, or rehashing things that will never change, only serves to rob my limited resources.
In the words attributed to Antonio Marulli:
“I want to surround myself with people who know how to touch hearts, people who have been taught to grow up with gentle touches of their soul.
Yes, I’m in a hurry, I’m rushing to live with the intensity that only maturity can give.”
The second author, Rachel – who writes as Finding Joy on Facebook, inspired me as she wrote about longing to counsel her former broken self, saying that though the path would be hard, brighter days lay ahead.
I knew brighter days would eventually come to me, while still in the depths of anticipatory grief as a caregiver. I knew the price would be paid of having even harder, gut-wrenching events happen first – thus, making the hope of joy almost shameful.
Creating as much light during the dark-yet-blessed days of caregiving and pushing myself forward through the time of abject grief, I held onto the hope of brighter days ahead.
Now, I can fully write my former shell-shocked self, saying:
Dearest Self-
Your journey is about to get more challenging than you can even imagine, but fear not!
You are blessed with enough strength, faith, family, friends, and seemingly random connections that will pave every step of this journey.
The more you let go, the more will be given to you.
Continue to do your best, be your best, and reach out to the best.
Like a fine piece of metal being hammered into shape, every blow, every challenge will shape you into a more beautiful vessel than you could ever have imagined.
There will be times when you will need to just lean into the suffering, sadness, and challenge.
At other times, you will find the strength to say “Stop” to the downward pull of negativity so that you can push forward – maybe not even knowing why/how/or where you are going – and you’ll be able to feel the sunshine once again on your face.
While you will wrestle with impatience to be whisked through the Valley of Despair, you know fully well that timing is Divine. Delay often means that lessons are yet to be learned.
Each lesson prepares you for success in the next steps you desire.
And that which you desire will be out-shined by the reality of the full manifestation!
May each of our foodtalk4you readers take some moments to reflect on last year’s blessings and know that we can identify with your anxiety, cares, and concerns.
We often resolve one set of issues – only to pick up new ones along the way. But …
Reflection can yield a healthier view with a very comforting perspective.
Have you started your Blessings Jar yet? Read more about this HERE. With link to 3rd post for 2021 re blessings jar and word of the year.
Maybe you, too, could write your former self a letter of encouragement.
In health for the New Year-
Deidre
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If you are blessed to be in the 98%+ of people who can safely eat tree nuts, we have some good news for you.
Not only are nuts satisfying to consume, but they can be impressive sources of good fats, protein, and fiber. When eaten slowly and deliberately – read “mindfully” – regular, modest nut consumption can contribute to good health.
Let’s dive into a bowl of cashews:
Raw – I prefer to buy my cashews in-the-raw, so I’ll know for sure how they are handled. Raw cashews lack that satisfying crunch we associate with nuts but can easily be added to blended sauces or beverage blends often crafted with almond milk.
Activated – Whenever possible, soaking and dehydrating all nuts is a plus to make them more digestible. See my book, Toolkit for Wellness, for background information and a method that preserves a live state. When activated, nuts will have crunch without high heat, oil, or salt.
Dry-roasted – The method we often choose because it seems healthier, but manufacturers of dry-roasted nuts often add extra salt to boost the flavor factors lost with the elimination of oil. Sodium contributes to higher blood pressure and a host of other health issues. Go for the lower-salt versions.
Oil-roasted – This is the method we were probably introduced to in our youth. I remember happily nibbling on oil-roasted nuts at holiday parties as a kid, only to dread dropping one on my clothes because of the oil stains they left. The very thought of highly refined, processed oils used in manufacturing this type of nuts makes me shudder today.
Even without a dehydrator, raw cashews can be dry roasted in the home oven – ideally after soaking. Check THISout for a good method.
I have even roasted nuts in a sauté pan over medium low heat – just keep the nuts stirred as they warm in the pan; constant vigilance is mandatory to prevent burning.
Heart health – Cashews are linked to a lowering of bad cholesterol and an increase in good cholesterol. This translates to lower blood pressure and lower LDL cholesterol. The monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids found in cashews helps improve overall heart health.
Blood sugar stability – The high fiber content of cashews is the probable link in a 2019 study showing Type 2 diabetics achieving better control of blood sugar when eating cashews daily. Fiber directly contributes to a slower release of glucose into the blood.
Weight control – High fiber foods are very satiating – especially coupled with the healthy fats contained in cashews. A one ounce serving makes a great snack.
Copper – As a trace mineral, copper packs a powerhouse of benefits for heart, vascular, and blood health, as well as assisting the proper functioning of the immune system. That one-ounce snack of cashews delivers 70% of our copper needs.
Antioxidants – Long recognized as being the supermen of fighting off the bad guys – free radicals – the antioxidants found in roasted cashews are particularly high in two types of antioxidants critical to living the inflammation-free life we need.
“What does one ounce of cashews look like?” Good question, because going overboard – even with a healthy food – could result in consuming too many calories.
An ounce would consist of 16-18 cashews of medium size. It would take fewer of those giant ones that are often sold. Gee, do we have to biggie-size everything?
I often use a little dish to portion out a snack of cashews. Mindfully munching one cashew at a time really ramps up the enjoyment of a controlled-size portion.
Cashews are also versatile ingredients that can add smoothness, flavor, and all the nutrition mentioned above. Check out this article for a variety of cashew recipes that could inspire your menu tonight, or for your New Year’s celebrations.
Sheree and I both wish you a happy, safe, and healthy New Year. We look forward to sharing more mind-body-spirit health ideas next year, along with some big news about a new release in books.
Crunching on cashews in health-
Deidre
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Is it the sights of the season that dazzle? Is it the explosion of flavors in your mouth that have set your taste buds dancing? Is it the sound of the choir and orchestra sending you on a journey to the heavens above?
It’s fun to partake in such things. Spirits soar in delight. Imaginations are tickled.
This year, the usually full music experience has been much less because I have not been able to safely sing thanks to Covid concerns.
But seeing and exploring new sights has filled my holiday calendar this year. My companion and I have managed to check off two items on our mutual bucket lists.
Returning to Colonial Williamsburg to experience and learn about how Christmas was celebrated in the living museum town did not disappoint.
Our leisurely week there afforded us so many opportunities to stroll the streets just soaking up the beauty of the lingering colors of fall as seen in the glorious ginkgo trees; smelling the smoke from the blacksmith’s fires; hearing the clomping of passing horse drawn carts and learning of colonial life.
To top things off, we were further rewarded by a weekend of Grand Illuminations activities unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before.
We reflected on our hopes and dreams for the new year and burned up our woes as we tossed our evergreen sprigs into the Yule Log fire.
The following evening, the fireworks-to-end-all-fireworks were seen from the Colonial Governor’s Palace. It was an indescribable experience!
Our grand holiday trek concluded with a host of sensory delights as we experienced the Biltmore Estate’s annual candlelight tour.
Biltmore Gingerbread House – Time to completion: 1,200 Hours and 5 months 78.5″ W x 32″ D x 32″ H
Check out this grand gingerbread house version of the Biltmore. Wow!
We sit back in reflection of having seen such wonders. Fully sated and happy.
Then there comes a text message with a picture that shuffles our thoughts of contentment back to reality.
Here is my sweet joy. My own sugar plum. My newest granddaughter.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, sweet readers. May your sugar plums be ones that fill your soul.
Deidre
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From Sheree: I want to extend my good wishes and prayers for all that you have a very merry, happy, and healthy Christmas. Remember the true reason for the season.
The First Christmas
Marian Swinger
It never snows at Christmas in that dry and dusty land.
Instead of freezing blizzards, there are palms and drifting sands,
and years ago a stable and a most unusual star
and three wise men who followed it, by camel, not by car,
while, sleepy on the quiet hills, a shepherd gave a cry.
He’d seen a crowd of angels in the silent starlit sky.
In the stable, ox and ass stood very still and calm
and gazed upon the baby, safe and snug in Mary’s arms.
And Joseph, lost in shadows, face lit by an oil lamp’s glow
stood wondering, that first Christmas Day, two thousand years ago.
Can you feel the rise of expectations during the holidays – especially since it’s our first fully-vaccinated and “boosted” holiday season since 2019?
We have GREAT EXPECTATIONS!
It’s a hallmark version of life we may long for, but the reality of changing circumstances may give us something less than what we had envisioned.
Should we feel like failures? Maybe we’ll just let the holiday season slip right on past and pretend it never happened.
Every religious holiday I can think of is centered around the theme of love – giving it, receiving it, revering the gift of love, and being inspired by it. Most secular and national holidays recognize love and gratitude in some way.
Halloween may be the exception, however; but it does highlight a love of candy, having fun, and all things pumpkin.
So, are all the Hallmark accoutrements of over-the-top decorations, festivals, and parades just so much window dressing?
Like the famous Wendy’s commercial of old which asked, “Where’s the beef,” we might be asking, where’s the love?
Our social calendar may look a little empty due to infirmity, circumstances, moving, or a host of other reasons. There may be a little less to work with this year.
But it’s not the window dressings we remember or hold in our hearts – it’s the love and how we felt.
The memories that last are the songs our hearts were singing at the time – love songs of joy, warmth, and care.
The theme of changing expectations to focus on the love – instead of the window dressings – is reverberating more and more with many of us.
Gathering a few of the many decorations from my home of over 40 years to my nascent home in another town, I kept repeating my new mantra of “expectations” to adjust what environment I wanted to create and WHY I felt it was important.
I did not need the full Hallmark effect. What I needed was the LOVE.
May we not lament the things and experiences we do not have.
More than ever, we need to rejoice in the loving relationships we are nurturing. Strengthening the loving bonds may look a bit different again this year, but the resulting full hearts will forever be warmed by something that endures, crossing distance, time, and space.
With love and appreciation for each foodtalk4you subscriber –
Deidre
#RAISEcaregiving (ACL’s official tag for RAISE activities) #CaregivingInCrisis (CAN’s 2020 observance) #NFCMonth (Annual observance hashtag) #FamilyCaregiver (A larger conversation on family caregiving) #Caregivers (Broadest conversation around caregiving)
We at FoodTalk4You, would like to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy every morsel of your shared feast, whether it be with family, friends, or those needing a warm meal. Whomever you find around your table this holiday – even if it’s just a plate in front of the TV like me – may God richly bless you and yours, and hold you safe.
Sheree
Thanksgiving Time
When the night winds whistle through the trees and blow the crisp brown leaves a-crackling down, When the autumn moon is big and yellow-orange and round, When old Jack Frost is sparkling on the ground,
It’s Thanksgiving Time!
When the pantry jars are full of mince-meat and the shelves are laden with sweet spices for a cake, When the butcher man sends up a turkey nice and fat to bake, When the stores are crammed with everything ingenious cooks can make,
It’s Thanksgiving Time!
When the gales of coming winter outside your window howl, When the air is sharp and cheery so it drives away your scowl, When one’s appetite craves turkey and will have no other fowl,
What’s happening while the Thanksgiving meal is in the oven? Does your family participate in a Turkey Trot? Is everyone watching a football game? Perhaps family members are linked together only by uncomfortable silences.
Bring that party together by printing out our first-ever wordsearch puzzle! Using key terms from many of this year’s posts, we’ve made a wordsearch puzzle just for you. Share what you’ve learned about these key terms with your family and friends as an icebreaker or conversation starter about healthful living.
Let’s take a look at these terms:
Foodtalk – Our term here at foodtalk4you for the helpful exchange of information – we strive to feed the body, mind, and spirit.
Gluten-free – Choosing food that doesn’t contain the gluten which is found in wheat, barley, and rye flour. Gluten is pro-inflammatory for many people. Just leave gluten behind for 30 days to see how you feel. Chances are you will have a happier belly with smoothly functioning digestive processes, clearer thinking, and an increased sense of well-being. Learn more HERE.
Mindful – Tuning into the present moment within yourself, others, and your surroundings. It’s being aware and responsible for your choices. Learn about mindful eating HERE.
Breathe – We explored the need to breathe using our noses and not our mouths HERE as a first basic step to total body health and welfare. Patterns of breathing (box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing for example) can help us not only de-stress but aide in falling asleep. Catch some ZZZs HERE.
Zentangle – Fun, relaxing art form reminiscent of doodling that uses fewer supplies than adult coloring. Catch the fun HERE.
Crema – Recipes were shared featuring the least thick of the trifecta of sauces selected. Find your crema HERE.
Crème fraiche – The perfect blending of heavy cream and buttermilk that is perfect for stroganoff or whipped up over fresh fruit. Grab your recipe HERE.
Honeycrisp – These apples are the perfect addition to spruce up fall salads with visual appeal, crunch, and flavor. Click on the recipe HERE.
Crockpot – In the cooler seasons, crockpots are the perfect appliance for outstanding savory flavors with minimum effort. Find a yummy recipe HERE.
Plan ahead – Moving our plans from a thought or wish to reality is a frequent topic here at foodtalk4you. Success comes in taking the tiny steps every day that will nudge us toward our goals. Review this topic HERE.
Synchronicity – Stepping back from an up-close view of your circumstances to get more of a “30,000-foot view” often reveals patterns and improbable series of events that help us to appreciate the beautiful synchronicity of our lives. Good and bad experiences become part of the beautiful mosaic of our past, present, and future. Get the good vibes HERE.
Thought distortions – These kinds of thoughts threaten to not only blow circumstances out of proportion, but also undo our sense of balance and even our self-esteem. Did you cave to the temptation of a rich dessert? Your response may try to punish yourself by introducing thoughts of having failed your weight loss efforts forever. Did your new friend skip a day or two of responding to your texts? Your thought distortions may lead you – erroneously – into thinking you’ve been dumped, and you are no good at relationships. Take a breath and a moment to analyze the validity of your thoughts.
Ethylene gas – Many fruits emit this gas to facilitate the ripening process. It’s useful when you put ripening fruit in a brown paper bag so all the ethylene gas can be captured and used to speed the process. By wrapping the stem end of a bunch of bananas, the process can be slowed down. Also, one fruit’s ethylene gas can ripen a different fruit in its vicinity. Review the science HERE.
Manifesting – Takes hoping and imagining about our plans to the next level by creating a positivity within ourselves that attracts the outcomes we desire. Create your positive outcomes by reading THIS.
Limiting beliefs – These thoughts are often born of early childhood experiences that we have internalized as facts and truths about ourselves. Peeling back the layers of our limiting beliefs helps to not only understand their origin but is also the first step in releasing those beliefs for our betterment in the present time.
Potassium – A critical mineral that we need for proper body function. We shared many common body issues linked to low potassium along with a resource list of foods high in this mineral HERE.
BDNF – Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor is a protein found in the brain that helps to ward off brain cell death and promotes the growth and development of new brain cells along with their thousands of connections to other nerve cells. Review this post HERE.
Journaling – Whether it’s jotting down three ideas, experiences, or blessings at the end of the day or writing paragraphs, journaling will help each of us gain that “30,000-foot view” of our lives. Putting feelings into words transfers the process from one brain area to another, allowing for rational thought to help us figure things out.
So, while the holiday meal’s fragrance fills the air at your house, print out our foodtalk4you puzzle, and start the conversation rolling as you discuss the terms and find them. They can be found going across, up, down, and diagonally.
Always thankful for our readers!
In health-
Deidre
#RAISEcaregiving (ACL’s official tag for RAISE activities)
#CaregivingInCrisis (CAN’s 2020 observance)
#NFCMonth (Annual observance hashtag)
#FamilyCaregiver (A larger conversation on family caregiving)
#Caregivers (Broadest conversation around caregiving)
As Alex is fond of saying, it doesn’t matter how big or small you are, you have a voice! As she fights for her parents against Alzheimer’s and dementia, Alex’s “Operation Caregivers,” is yet another battle to restore dignity for those who suffer from the disease and empowerment for their https://www.facebook.com/alexandra.allred.3-569859
Email Alex at: redburn4@gmail.com. (Reference that you saw her on The Complete Caregiver Guide event) and request a copy of either “Alzheimer’s and Dementia 101” OR “Awareness is Armor.”
First come, first serve!
DEIDRE EDWARDS
If you are one of the millions of people who has become a caregiver to a loved one, Deidre’s Toolkit for Caregivers will guide you through that maze of caregiving concerns that threaten to overwhelm and consume you.
FREEBIE: We are giving three lucky people our most popular publication, Toolkit for Caregivers. Toolkit for Caregivers blends the demands associated with caring for another with a calmer atmosphere and self-assured peacefulness – creating a remedy for a more purposeful, soothing atmosphere, beneficial to both you and your patient. Please take the time to sign up for our drawing. We would love for the winner to be you!
Lori is a passionate advocate who searches for ways to shift our dementia care culture from crisis to comfort. She was recognized as the #1 Influencer Online for Alzheimer’s. As a professional speaker and daughter of a mother with dementia for over 30 years, Lori gets it! Change is needed on multiple levels.
Lucia has worked for over 25 years with elders, high-risk population and persons with chronic conditions, as well as their caregivers, in a wide range of community, research, and institutional settings. She developed a pioneering practice using mindfulness to improve the quality of life in community, hospital, clinic and nursing home settings.
Divya’s strategies motivate leaders, cross-functional groups, and teams to cultivate independent leadership, the interdependence between themselves and their internal and external customers to achieve a combined mastery of connectivity and alignment. Her experience allows her to guide leaders, teams, and professionals through complicated business and personal challenges.
During the past four decades, Dr. Marion has provided care for more than 2,000 elderly clients while she owned and operated a thriving Geriatric Care Management practice. It is now Dr. Marion’s goal to help caregivers everywhere by providing valuable insights and information.
Claudia is a burnout prevention and stress resilience coach and mentor, a self-care advocate, and a motivational speaker. She is also an entrepreneur, a digital course creator and founder of the ”Unstoppable You Wellness Academy,” an online platform offering digital courses, digital products and online trainings, with the mission to empower those who are burned out.
Petra is an author and entrepreneur who turned her attention to finding real-world elder care solutions after a series of unexpected events left her scrambling to help her parents manage their affairs. Her desire was to offer other adult children of seniors practical advice they could use in their own lives.
NOTE: If you wish to save a copy of this on your computer or want to print it out, click our PRINT button below – under DESTINATION, scroll down to PDF and click SAVE.
We talk a lot about nurturing others: Encouraging our children and grandchildren saying, “You can do this,” “I believe in you,” “You have all the skills for success,” and the like.
Are we doing this for ourselves?
Or is our inner conversation more like, “Well, that was dumb,” “I knew you’d fail trying that,” or, “You’re not smart enough/thin enough/fast enough/rich enough/young enough/old enough to succeed”?
We’ve explored self-talk before on foodtalk4you, and readers continue to print out their copies of affirmations offered on our home page. Those affirmations, which have helped me in the past, are more faith-based and perhaps – more generalized.
As I study the writings of Louise Hay and Jennifer Teske, I have come to appreciate a different sort of affirmation that speaks to my inner self – the very core of my self-worth and abilities.
Letting the words of these affirmations by Hay wash over and filter through me, I am being transformed and empowered from the inside out.
I’ve come to learn, the subconscious mind accepts things at face value – much like we did when as babies and children. We accepted the things we experienced and were told were true. Those early messages of love and acceptance – or mistrust, lack of love, and self-doubt – became our view of the world and the blueprint for self-talk throughout life.
Louise Hay takes the listener through paired statements aimed at addressing the way the subconscious mind thinks. More than, “I am good enough, just as I am,” which the subconscious may reject as a false belief from early experiences. Her tandem affirmations also include, “You are good enough just as you are,” which is aimed at leaving an acceptable truth in the subconscious.
Listening to such affirmations feeds the non-judgmental and accepting subconscious mind. There are times when the inner self needs a boost of self-worth messages.
When was the last time you believed that you are worthwhile and deserved to be happy? Or that you were loveable because you exist?
Even if we have been behaving in ways that are unlovable, reminding ourselves that deep inside we are loveable, can inspire a change in attitude and action.
What if you were to internalize the message: I experience love wherever I go/ You experience love wherever you go? Perhaps you would come to greet each day in expectancy of positive experiences and love. With such an outlook, you would find love wherever you go.
I am at peace within/ You are at peace within. Enjoy a non-puffed-up boost in self-worth and being grounded by listening to such inspired affirmations.
Leave your thoughts and comments with me by clicking on the comments link at the top. If you found this post helpful, please use the MORE button below for sharing options.
#RAISEcaregiving (ACL’s official tag for RAISE activities)
#CaregivingInCrisis (CAN’s 2020 observance)
#NFCMonth (Annual observance hashtag)
#FamilyCaregiver (A larger conversation on family caregiving)
#Caregivers (Broadest conversation around caregiving)
Honoring Caregivers … I’ve come to call it Soul Work.
Caregivers do a lot of it. The grieving do it. Those suffering from the PTSD of having been a caregiver do it.
Guess, we all do it at most any stage of living on this beautiful blue orb.
It’s the process of figuring things out, releasing past hurt and pain, to take ahold of the present moment.
We cannot grab the life we are living today if our hands are full of stuff from the past – so, yes, we all do soul work.
This month, we recognize family caregivers who are juggling a mind-numbing amount of mental, physical, and emotional issues each day.
The last two years have been a challenge – at best – for most of us, and simply brutal for caregivers of loved ones.
Caregiving is isolating enough without the added constraints of a global pandemic. To go through those years that I did previously, but in the present time? No thanks.
So, what do we do to help the caregivers in our community?
Send them a card every so often.
Call them.
Get vaccinated and masked so you can more safely visit them and their loved one.
Offer your vaccinated and masked self as a fill-in so they can step out of the house for a bit of exercise or for an errand.
Offer to do some chores so they do not have to.
Drop off a meal so they do not have to cook.
Help them contact their local Area Agency on Aging in the United States to make sure they have the resources they need.
This month, I have lowered the price of my book, Toolkit for Caregivers, to make it even more affordable to those who are caring for loved ones. It is a great gift to a caregiver to show them support when you can’t be there.
Please reach out to a caregiver near you to offer a lifeline. Every little act and deed go a long way to keep their heads above the raging sea that threatens to drown them.
In health-
Deidre
#RAISEcaregiving (ACL’s official tag for RAISE activities)
#CaregivingInCrisis (CAN’s 2020 observance)
#NFCMonth (Annual observance hashtag)
#FamilyCaregiver (A larger conversation on family caregiving)
#Caregivers (Broadest conversation around caregiving)
The MORE button below will let you share this post with your friends. It’s also an excellent time to start gift purchases for the coming holidays. Why not go to this link HERE and get copies of my books for your friends and loved ones.
