EILEEN ADLER

“Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.” —Eckhart Tolle
 

So much depends on:

Love, Empathy, Compassion, Self-care, Patience, Knowledge, Denial, Anger, Anxiety, Apprehension, Exhaustion, Frustration, Communication, Depression, Sadness, Loneliness, Stress, Coping, Maintaining your Health, Hygiene, Nutrition, and on and on and on and on.
 

What is self-care? According to Dr. Marni Amsellem, a licensed psychologist, “Self-care is anything that you do for yourself that feels nourishing, adding it can be something that’s relaxing or calming, or it can be intellectual or spiritual or physical or practical or something you need to get done. What is self-care for one person will likely differ from someone else, and what’s self-care for you one day might not feel like self-care another day.”
 

I will add what I believe may be the best self-care practice – ATTITUDE.
I believe that you get what you expect and if you expect the worst, that’s what you’ll get.

I have been a care partner for the last twenty years and often, very often, I have been told to take care of myself. Eat right, get enough sleep and exercise, breathe—the list of self-care advice is endless, and it continues, we must control our anger, our stress, we must prepare the environment for safety meaning some of the things we have enjoyed must be put away for now, “planning for safety” is the daily mantra. All well and good BUT!!!

What has become apparent to me is ME!   I’m my own worst enemy.
 

I had to change how I saw myself, my attitude, and answer the question, why am I here?  Effective self-care is how well I adapt to the changes that come— almost daily. Charles Darwin’s advice, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” We must adapt and change our attitude because if we don’t, all the advice in the world won’t help. I had to adapt, change, think about how I could change my tone of voice, my facial expression, my heart, my compassion, my patience, and my attitude, and my love.

Life Lessons from the poet and physician William Carlos Williams (1883 – 1963).
 

“If they give you lined paper, write the other way.”

“Dissonance / (if you are interested) / leads to discovery.”
 

“Age and learn to breathe again.”