Caregiving is one of the most rewarding jobs – however it can be one of the most stressful jobs. The main role of a caregiver or a caretaker is to provide physical, emotional, and medical care for a person in need. It is natural to feel frustrated and angry during one’s journey as a caregiver. Just with any profession or career, it is common for someone to become unmotivated or undesiring to perform to the best of their ability if the individual is burnt out. It is so important to become aware of when one is stressed, frustrated, and overwhelmed so that they take initiative to reverse those feelings.

Here are some inspiring thoughts during difficult days:

Time is Valuable

Oftentimes, we take time for granted, forgetting that time is valuable and it is an aspect of life that we cannot get back. Time is exchanged between the caregiver and the person being cared for. As caregivers, we must remember who we are and how our patients see us. Sometimes the only thing that keeps residents motivated and helps them see the light at the end of the tunnel, is us. Not only is our time limited, but their time is as well. We must remember the time spent with our patients is precious and treat it as such. 

Most of the time, we are the ones being taken care of

There are many rewards to caregiving. As much as we provide care for the person in need, we often come home realizing how much we can learn from someone else. Caring for someone reveals many beautiful life lessons and take with us as we go through our life journey.

We are a light in the darkness

In some cases, the people we care for have never experienced what it is like to be taken care of. To some patients, we are the light in their darkness. We are sometimes the highlight or most exciting part of their day.

Caregiving challenges our individual life journey

As caregivers, we see light and dark. We see beautiful moments but we also experience the tough reality of disease, disability, and emotional struggles our patients go through. These moments help shape our individual life journey in which we gain courage, confidence, and strength.

We are messengers

In our profession, we have the privilege of getting to know the lives of others. We listen and understand the highs and lows someone else got to experience. We get to listen to the stories and legacies our patients carried. These stories can inspire us in our personal journey. These stories are stories that will make a footprint in our legacy or can be an inspiration to someone else’s.

Caregiving has the power to transform. It is a profession that demonstrates compassion and love to the people that need it. It is a profession that challenges the caregiver on their individual journey and their personal growth. Caregiving has the power to transform and impact the hearts of not just the patient but the caregiver themself.

Understanding the way we care, and transforming it!

As humans, we are naturally caring individuals. We have a soft spot for cute animals, babies, and heartwarming videos that show up on our Facebook feed that make our eyes water. The compassion does not have to stop there.

The first glimpse of care that we receive is what we understand “love” to be. Love is a big word that can look like different things for each of us, but an important thing to notice is that the way we love others is how others have loved us in our early years. Although gossip magazines claim to have the answers of what love is, there isn’t a defined step-by-step guide to love. Love is based on personal experience, and can be ever changing the more we interact with different expressions of love.

Caring is an expression of love. We have seen the popularity of “self-care” arise these past few years that suggest many ways to care for your mind, body, and soul. The most important relationship that you have is with yourself, and caring for yourself in ways that are physical, emotional, mental, psychological, spiritual – all aspects of self, is crucial to becoming happy without relying on external factors (people, wealth, objects). However, as we become older and our body is no longer at its prime, more care is needed.

I like to think of care in relation of how we would care for a plant. 3 necessary factors to keep a plant alive: water, sun, and environment. Although each plant has different ways to care, it all comes back to the 3 necessary factors. If your plant is not looking so great, is drooping or leaves are yellowing, understand that one of the 3 is not working well for it and may need some adjustment or extra attention. Maybe more/less water, more/less sun, larger area to grow. Keep in mind that all plants are different and will need different amounts of care. All plants will gives us signs when things are not going well, and is a gentle reminder that something needs to change to get better. Just because the plant looks like it is dying doesn’t mean it is a lost cause and to stop taking care of it. It is an opportunity to inspire and encourage life by caring for it. Why not have these perspectives when we care for ourselves and other people? We have the potential to bloom into something great and also have the opportunity to be a light to others.

I encourage you to write your thoughts down in a journal or notebook. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and explore different ideas to improve quality of life!

In this life, we look for meaning and purpose. From our relationships with family and friends to our job, the important question of “why?” hits us and gets us to think of why we are doing things in the first place, what is our purpose?

Throughout this life we seek gratification that to some extent we are making a difference in the world. Finding our place is a constant question of “Is this right?” that comes up very often. It can be difficult to see this sense of fulfillment actually lies within us. By exploring the different possibilities of what can give us this satisfaction, I have found that the relationships and connections with others (and myself) has become the most important practice that we cannot run away from. Think of relationships with one another on a love spectrum… A stranger you drive next to on the freeway may be on the lower end because you do not know the person or have a connection with them, while your significant other or parent maybe on a higher level of love. One constant finding that I noticed is that the way that we love others is the way that we love ourselves. This takes the Golden Rule “Treat others the way you want to be treated” to another level of understanding. I was mindful about my emotions when people that needed me to do something for them, I became frustrated easily. Why am I feeling this way? Am I being selfish? Why am I being selfish? I dug deeper within myself to find that by me expressing that I do not respect others desires, I don’t respect my own wants and needs to put them into action. With self reflection, I was able to practice and work on this and it dramatically changed the way I treated myself then carrying that on towards how I treat others.

This way of thought sparked my curiosity in growth and development of relationships that led me to the care industry. I was not only passionate about the practice of becoming a better person, but I was able make the practice a career. On a day to day basis, I am mindful the way I interact with people because it allows me to be aware of what triggers me. These triggers are little reminders for me to look within myself, find the root of it and better myself. Giving care and love for others is an on-going practice that does not only allow you to love yourself better but love others better. Become that light that sparks a light in others!

If you want to know more about how transformative working in the care industry can be for your life and also others, click here to browse other articles.