During a caregiving experience, your world may seem really small. You also may feel that your world of caregiving completely disconnects you from the world outside of caregiving.
You can feel like you don't belong in the outside world.
Not only do you belong, you lead. You have much to teach the world. Here are just 10 lessons you teach the world:
1. No matter what breaks, you continue. Consider Larry, who cared for his mom. When his car broke down, he pushed his mom three miles in her wheelchair to apply for help with the car repair bill. He pushed his mom in her wheelchair to church and to the grocery store. It all may break. But you still keep going because that's the only way to get to your destination.
2. You show up. You manage so much and yet whenever another struggles you show up to lend a hand. You show the world how to show up.
3. You know the importance of community. You jump in to help another family caregiver whenever possible. Your kindness makes us all feel at home at a time when we can feel home is lost.
4. You stay for the extra innings and you stay with the same energy and determination you had when the game started. Sure you get tired. Of course you need breaks. But your purpose keeps you going and keeps you fueled.
5. One voice can be loud enough to change the world, whether the world be the one in your house, the one in your community, the one in your workplace or the one in our universe. You use your voice to be the change.
6. Anyone can learn anything which means we all have unlimited potential. You didn't take a class or attend a week-long conference or have an in-house training program to become the primary health care provider for your family member or friend. You learned as you went, overcoming your nerves, your self-doubts, your worries. Think of all you do, every day, without a medical degree. You show us that a courageous heart earns honorary degrees.
7. Selflessness means giving and receiving with an open heart. You demonstrate the power of giving and receiving, knowing that you must participate in that circle to cross this marathon's finish line. You give. You receive. That's how you continue giving. That's selflessness.
8. Because we all belong to the same world, we all have a special gift to give it. Maybe some gain fame for their gifts. That's okay. You're not looking for fame, you're looking to share so that no one feels the side effect of caregiving – loneliness. Because of your gifts, you gain a perspective that will give you inner peace.
9. Forgiveness is the best cure to bitterness. Certainly, you have every reason to hold a grudge. You choose, instead, to forgive.
10. At the end of the day, what matters most is how many hands you held during tough times not how many dollars you deposited. You do what you can to financially prepare for your future. You also do what you can to make the most of every moment you have. Because none of us are guaranteed another moment, you treasure each moment, knowing your well-lived moments give you your future.
11. A bonus! You demonstrate how the ordinary becomes extraordinary. With your hands, you do God's work here on earth. Every day.
Thank you all so much for all you do. Thank you so much for sharing what you do with us.