During a recent conversation with a caregiver, she mentioned the challenges of caring for her mother who is 87. Her mother is unpredictable. How, I asked, do you respond or react to this unpredictability? The caregiver was at a loss for words. She had never thought about it. After spending sometime pondering the question, she said, it’s my mother. I never considered her behavior. This has just become a part of my responsibilities, and I just accept whatever comes. How does that make you feel, I asked? She had not given this any thought. It was part of her routine schedule. How would you have responded to this caregiver? Was anything acceptable? What methods do you think she uses to distract herself from this situation? Share your thoughts with me.
To Be Happy
During an Aging Gracefully presentation, one of the participants mentioned illness could prevent people from being happy. This lady was 84 years young. She looked 70. She seemed cheerful, happy and satisfied. As I continued with audience participation, I found out she had a terminal illness and was facing challenges dealing with it. Should we always expect to be happy? Is is easier for us to tell others to be happy under most circumstances? Later I shared focusing on the present, the right now, this moment. I think she understood. Will she continue to focus on what’s to come or will she continue to live the life that is still coming to her each day? How do we accept and embrace change? Our lives are always changing. Let’s find the little nuggets that cause some happiness.
Where are you now?
We are in the second quarter of 2010. Some of us are still determining if we call it two thousand ten or twenty ten. Whatever your decision, where are you now? How are you feeling about your life? Are you doing things that you want to do or are you continuing to do what you think others think you should be doing? Are you a caretaker? Who is taking care of you? Where do you rank yourself on your list of priorities? Are you continuing to evolve? Have you made plans for a summer vacation? Have you added spring colors to your wardrobe or even changed some of the more wintry elements of your home? Let’s make 2010 more about you. Call or send me an email with some of your ideas for continuing to make this your year. Where are you now?
Why Wait?
As a part of my weekly interview series, I did a tour and a pre-interview with a cemetery counselor. This was really an interesting 60 minutes. I viewed the huge facility. There were mausoleums, and underground graves. There was a crematorium. There was absolutely no pressure, just information.br /When we are truly informed, we are able to make better decisions. The grounds were beautiful. The atmosphere was serene. Pre-need services are offered at a greatly reduced rate than at-need services. A great percentage of the population decides to wait. The emotions are much too strong to make this kind of decision at the time of death. How do you justify your decision not to decide to purchase pre-need cemetery services? Call or visit your local cemetery for a tour today.