A Note From Carol
Dear Friends,
We in the north have had some snow, now melted, but
even a little snow makes it easier to realize that the
month of Thanksgiving is upon us. I enjoy
Thanksgiving every year, as it brings back fond family
memories.
However, this has been a rollercoaster year for me as
for many of you. Caregiving is always a challenge and
this economy, along with health care and insurance
issues, have made it even more difficult for many. So,
what do we have to be grateful for?
Sometimes, I need to make a "gratitude list." Mine is
generally mental, but many people do this on paper.
It's a process advocated by many spiritual groups as
a way to realize that even though we have problems,
most of us have more blessings than we realize.
Sometimes, we have to pretend. My "day job" ended
last February, along with the jobs of many of my
newspaper colleagues.
After the layoff , I came home a bit
stunned, but knew in my heart that now I was "free" to
do what I feel I'm meant to do - work full time in elder
care. How I would pay the the bills was
still a question, but I now could do what I'd dreamed of
doing, but had been too afraid to try.
One of the first things I did was change the scrolling
screen saver on my computer to simply
read "gratitude." Now, Minding Our Elders is a full-time
business and I'm happier in my work than ever
before. I still write a column for the newspaper, I still
write for the many Web sites I've written for during
these last years, I still have my own site and blog. I've
added the position of editor-in-chief for
ElderCarelink.com to complete my lineup of clients
and am incorporating my business as of January
2010.
Was my layoff something to be grateful for? Yes,
indeed. Was I grateful every moment, as I
struggled financially? No. I am human. But I was
determined to keep a grateful heart and to trust that I
would be able to continue to reach out in elder care
rather than being forced to take a totally different job
and give up my passion of
helping caregivers and seniors any way I can.
This Thanksgiving I will celebrate with
true, deeply felt awe and gratitude for the richness of
life. Blessings to all of you as you celebrate
Thanksgiving in whatever way suits you, even if that
means ignoring it. I understand that, too. When I
was swamped by caring for several elders at once, I
wanted to ignore many a holiday. The stress seemed
just too much. May you all "get through" this upcoming
string of holidays by taking care of yourselves as well
as your loved ones.
Carol
