Focus on the Family- Lemons

You know, very often life hands us what seems to be continuous difficulties, some people use the lemons as opportunities to grow, I guess we can call these the “Planters”… some people will be so effected by the bitterness of the lemons that they will simply give up and toss the lemon out…

We can call these the “Tossers” still another group exists this group will recognize the lemon, understand how it should be used and put it into action, lets call this group the “Squeezers”.  Over the next few weeks, we will be looking into each personality and offering tips for caregivers that may be struggling with their own “lemons”

Often when life’s difficulties come around, we lose sight of the greater things in life, if you are a caregiver, this can come in the delay of  a loved ones response to a new medication or even news of a worsening diagnosis.  Difficulties come in many shapes and sizes, and their gravity or lack thereof is something only we can determine.  The only way to determine its affect on our lives is to begin to understand whether we are, “Planters”, “Tossers”or “Squeezer”.

A Planter is an individual who is willing to go the course, they take every difficulty as a means to grow by, life is nothing more than a teacher to these individuals.  The danger of being a planter is that the labor of planting much like a farmer finds is not only taxing on the body, but on the soil as well.  Planters will typically find scars and resentment walking along side them.  Allowing a difficulty to help you grow is a great benefit, but much like the soil, there are times that may seem increasingly difficult because of the labor it takes to cultivate the growth.

If you are a planter, I encourage you to seek support, even the farmer has farm hands… a farmer may not be strong enough to till an entire field, but farm hands and oxen may complete the task quicker and with minimal effort.  In the same manner, perhaps in your caregiver role you have found that you have a particular area of weakness for example your care may be great but your ability to manage your loved ones finances can be taxing (no-pun intended), some of us may be able to easily manage benefits, finances and prescriptions among other things, so our best peace of advice is make patient care a family responsibility, don’t take too much on otherwise you may find it increasingly difficult to grow…

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