This month’s curated article excerpts for busy caregivers include getting your new year off to a solid start with a look at what worked in 2020; setting the stage for change; postponing dreams to declutter; and two curiosity topics—digital currency (bitcoin) and why your body jerks as you drift off to sleep.
Happy Healthy Caregiver—What Worked in 2020
Sleep. Finding peace with a loved one’s passing. Embracing being a homebody. New partnerships. These are some of the things that worked for family caregiver, Elizabeth Miller, as she reflects on how 2020 unfolded.
Setting the Stage for Change
We’ve all likely lived through major changes, recently. Coach Ann Vanino, helps us to embrace the changes in our life in this short article. Instead of trying to do the same things we’ve done before, she encourages us to deal with the changes we initiate and those that are forced upon us.
When I get rid of this stuff then I will…
In this article for the STUFFology 101 decluttering site, I write about how I have repeated the same conditional statement my father said over a quarter century ago. He kept postponing his dreams of travel in order to get through his clutter. (Spoiler: I finished his decluttering after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.) Perhaps one reason we delay decluttering is because of the large-looming answer to a simple question we struggle to answer.
The Bitcoin Dream
“Even though it may have been designed as a payment system and a medium of exchange, Bitcoin’s real appeal was, inevitably, going to be as what economists call a ‘store of value,’ a kind of digital gold.” Despite its popularity, its volatility and slow number of transactions are two reasons why it may not be an easy choice to protect people’s assets against inflation.
Why Your Body Sometimes Jerks as You Fall Asleep
As you drift off to a peaceful slumber your body jerks. “Your leg kicks. Your heart pounds.” The term for these jarring movements is hypnic jerks. Described as a “a sudden involuntary muscle twitch,” according to the author, there is no known reason, but a couple of hypotheses. One is that your brain thinks you’re a monkey. Seriously!
