Patience

Patience.  Of the many things that caregivers need more of, it is patience.  You may feel like your reserve of patience has run out, but you’re doing everything you can to hide it.  You may feel like your reserve is dangerously low, and will soon run out.  Maybe even tomorrow.  It’s hard to be there, day in and day out, over and over, and not have those days when you feel like throwing in the towel, even though you know you can’t and you know you won’t.  Somehow you find it.  It’s only human to feel like you can’t do it much longer, and to just want to holler.  Denying how you feel only leaves you feeling even more drained.  And more impatient.  So take some time for yourself.  Let yourself sit with what a challenge getting through the day can be.  Have a talk with somebody who can listen without judgment while you talk about how what a thankless job caregiving can be, how annoyed and frustrated you feel, how you wish this was somebody else’s job.  Don’t hold back.  Maybe even consider how you might get some help, even if only to give yourself some small breaks here and there to regroup and get back to your center.  Patience begins with yourself.  You are human.  Show yourself some patience.