Stress

I was watching/listening to our local PBS station the other night while I was getting ready for bed, after having helped Mom with her bath and closed up the house. I listened to a well-known author telling us that there is no stress in the world. It's all in how we decide to react to situations.

I find it hard to believe that this person has ever been in the position that caregivers are in. I can't believe that he has been in the emergency room at 3:00 in the morning with a loved one in incredible pain which no drug can touch....or watched the cognitive and/or physical decline of a loved one....or gone without sleep in order to tend to someone else's needs.

I agree that we can do a great deal to alleviate the stress of many situations. For caregivers, I think this is a constant effort. And when dealing with crisis, or ongoing crises, I don't see how it is possible. When you are in the trenches and bombs are being lobbed at you, it's pretty hard to keep your head up, let alone see the sunlight.

I think that caregivers are a pretty awesome group of people because we manage to hear the bird singing and see the sunlight, at least sometimes. We have no control over the bombs that are lobbed at us or the crises that we face.

I work every day to look for the good. Just the same, saying there is no stress does not make it so.