The life of a caregiver is filled with emotional ups and downs, as well as complete changes of course! It’s a challenging, yet beautiful path to be on.  When life as you know it changes because of an accident, a diagnosis, or the onset of an illness know that it’s ok to allow your hopes and dreams to change, too!

To create and maintain hope this week, let’s first focus on making sure we haven’t abandoned our dreams. 

Right this minute, please think of something you’ve always wished for…

With that in your mind, allow yourself to think about how your caregiving situation has impacted that dream.

And now, let’s think about how to tweak that dream a bit so that you can hold on to hope and generate positive energy (whch will attract more positive energy). 

When you’re doing this mental exercise, it’s important to think about things in terms of what you want, as opposed to what you do not want to happen.

For example, if the “old dream” regarding your loved one was  “I want a cure.” The new dream could be, “I want a pain-free day.”

It’s helpful for many to keep a Hope Journal.  You can write down those hopes, revisit, and modify as necessary. 

 It’s not “giving up”, its realistically and effectively managing your emotions to keep yourself strong. There’s big hope in that!…Don’t you think?

j.