How Can You Keep a Positive Attitude as a Caregiver?

By Jamie Shapiro | May 21, 2019 | Comments Off on How Can You Keep a Positive Attitude as a Caregiver?

As a caregiver, one of the best tools you have to protect yourself as well as your senior and to keep yourself from experiencing too much negativity is positivity. But sometimes it feels too difficult to just be positive. Your senior’s situation may be one in which she’s constantly struggling. That makes caregiving difficult for you, too. These tips can help.

 

Make Gratitude Your Default Setting

Caregiver Evanston, IL: Positive Attitude as a Caregiver

Gratitude is all about being thankful for situations as they are, even if they aren’t idea. There are some serious benefits to gratitude, so when you can make gratitude your default setting you’re going to reap those benefits more often. It’s important to remember that just because you’re focusing on gratitude, that doesn’t mean you’re ignoring reality.

 

Journal Some Positive Stuff Every Day
Journaling is powerful and when you add positivity to your journaling, that’s even more powerful. Even on a bad day, you can find something positive to write about. Keep track of accomplishments you’ve achieved or things that made you smile or laugh throughout the day. Write down funny things that your senior said. Whatever it is that you can find to write about that’s positive, write it down.

 

Focus on What Your Senior Can Do
Lots of times aging adults and caregivers get bogged down in what the senior has lost, in terms of abilities or things that she can do. Instead, in the interest of positivity, start to focus on what your senior can do instead. Focus on the stronger aspects of that spectrum. Because if you continue to focus on what she’s lost or on what she can’t do, that’s all that either of you will see and that’s going to be difficult to counteract.

 

Don’t Let the Bad News Get to You
You can’t ignore the negative aspects of being a caregiver. You also can’t ignore it when you get bad news about your senior’s health. But what you can do is refuse to let the bad news get you down and ruin your ability to see the positive in every situation. You can still focus on positivity without sticking your head in the sand.

 

No one expects that you’ll be super happy and super positive every minute of every day. That’s not realistic. But you can take steps to help ensure that you’re looking for the silver lining a lot more often and that can help your overall mood.

 

Excerpt: Positivity can pay off some big dividends for you as a caregiver, but it’s not always easy to hang onto that happy attitude.

 

If you or an aging loved one are considering a Caregiver in Evanston, IL, contact the caring staff at Companion Services of America today at (847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas.

Jamie Shapiro
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