So, you’re a family caregiver (or think you will be in the future) and you’re not thrilled. I get it. I’m a family caregiver, too, and I’ve been there, too (listen to my story here). They don’t serve you. So, how can we choose joy instead? This is part one of two articles encouraging family caregivers to make the best of life today by choosing joy, but I also provide practical tips to help you do just that. (Click here for Part 2.)
The takeaway of this article: You make a life out of what you have, not what you’re missing.
The good news – You get to choose. Be a family caregiver and joyful at the same time.
The not-so-good news – Choosing joy (click here for more) is not a one-and-done deal, and practice doesn’t make it perfect, but it make does make it easier.
Let Me Explain the Family Caregiving Conundrum
I’m not saying we don’t want to care for those we love. Most of us do, but we don’t always know what that care entails at the outset. It’s only after getting started when questions like these start cropping up:
- How long?
- What are the physical and financial burdens (and they are burdens)?
- How will caregiving impact my family, job, health, and life?
- Will I have help?
- Can I even do this?
Photo by Joice Kelly on Unsplash
When all of THAT becomes more evident, family caregivers who aren’t predisposed to caregiving can become skittish. We start struggling with those energy-sucking emotions I mentioned, wondering, “What did I get myself into?”
Are you thinking, “I want to do this, but it scares me.”
I’m not trying to scare you, but some family caregiving situations can be quite demanding. Things like Alzheimer’s, MS, Aging parents, recurring cancer, COPD, a debilitating injury–these things don’t discriminate. They can happen to anyone and they often get progressively difficult to navigate.
Family Caregivers It’s Time to Choose
Now, you have a choice–continue wasting time and energy doing this on your own, waiting for what you think you’re missing, OR trust God and start making the best of life today. (Click here for more.)
Photo by Kid Circus on Unsplash
Think of the man at Bethesda (John 5:1-15), who spent the better part of his life waiting for someone to move him into a “healing” pool at just the right time when, only once a year, it was supposedly stirred by angels. What did he do all the other days in between? He wasted 38 years putting his faith in others, as if they were somehow responsible for his situation and kept waiting for something to change. But nothing changes without action.
Jesus came to the pool and saw the man. He asked him, “Do you want to get well?” Then, Jesus told the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8). Finally, the man got up.
So, instead of wasting time sitting by the pool of energy-sucking emotions, passively watching life pass you by, put your faith in Jesus and choose to get up (Philippians 4:4). With Jesus, nothing is missing.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” –Philippians 4:4
Choose joy!
