Courageous Care Partners – Revise, Rewire, Refine: Recharge while Mastering the Art of Self-Care for Caregivers epitomizes the journey of a care partner.
Care partners, also called caregivers, carers, and comfort keepers, can be anyone overseeing someone with a chronic illness or limited independent living abilities for a short time or a lifetime. Care partners perform unbelievable miracles routinely as trainers, coaches, and cheerleaders. Their loved ones are secure knowing that they will be taken care of by loving hands, smiles, and hugs. However, the care partner needs care also; self-care is not negotiable so set aside time for yourself. Think of your self-care ritual as a “mini” vacation; go out on a self-date whether you physically go out or find a spot at home to luxuriate in your own thoughts and passions. A little break goes a long way in providing connections, joyfulness, and small pleasures that lift your mood and spirit. A passion (for me, it’s knitting) can provide moments of solace guiding care partners to new heights in patience and persistence, thus creating positive changes.
Courageous Care Partners features the lives of many women who, given the timing of their birth, where they were born, their race, their family dynamics, succeeded when they could have failed. With each story, poem, allegory, a life lesson is revealed that will inspire us. Each chapter also includes a self-care ritual. Their transcendence, this ability to journey outside of their lives, their tenacity, and then the transformation when these changes came to fruition epitomize these women. What each of these women learned is this: if a change is to be made, they had to decide to do the unthinkable and make the change happen. Journeys of connections, finding the key to success and uncovering what nurtures the heart kept them from straying off course; the journey, at times so daunting, wondering, could they go on? But they persevered, and now their life wisdom helps guide us to our dreams as we traverse our new path as care partners because self-care is non-negotiable.
