A Convenient, Effective, and Free Tool for Caregivers
While caregivers enjoy benefits, including a deep sense of purpose in helping another human being who truly needs support, caregiving comes with some mighty highs and lows.
To cope, it’s best to “self-medicate” with a pen, pencil, or keyboard. Journaling one’s way out of a spiral of overwhelm, confusion, and even despair is a healthier way to cope than prescription or even liquid (alcohol) medications. While the two latter serve a purpose at times, journaling consistently is the most viable of the three. You can write your way out of purgatory and even hell.
Guidelines
Write whatever comes to mind.
Sometimes you’ll sit down to write one thing and something else presses forward needing to be discharged onto paper. Write what causes you concern. Write what you’re unsure about. Write what someone else has done that has caused you angst. Write also about the good times. Write what someone has done for you that made you feel loved.
Your journal is private.
No one needs to see what you write. Only you can decide to share all or parts of your journal.
Write in a notebook or on the computer.
Whether you write or key your thoughts in the computer, begin journaling when your thoughts weigh heavy upon your mind.
Write for five minutes.
We can manage five minutes of writing. Sometimes, we get into the flow and we take longer to record our thoughts. Don’t overdo it. Limit your time so the process does not become drudgery. You want to look forward to doing it again.
Write anytime.
Sometimes thoughts come to mind and won’t leave until you write them down… at 2:45 in the morning. Do it. Getting your thoughts down on paper will allow you to fall asleep again. I keep a pad of paper and pen on my bed stand.
Getting Through the Rough Patches of Life
There is no other way. If people are honest with one another (and ourselves) we need to get through the rough patches. We can only go around, over or under, temporarily. For real growth to occur and for us not to repeat our mistakes, we must go through.
When the nursing home’s neglect resulted in my newly admitted father walking out undetected, journaling helped me to keep an even keel. Even with the administrator’s fear-based ultimatum that my father was too high-functioning and had to leave, we prevailed. Being assured of the procedures did not block subsequent unreasonable behavior. Despite being shaken to my core – my father was found later that night walking along the freeway in the Mojave Desert – time healed the injustices. A new owner and administrator took over and improvements were noticeable.
Benefits of Journaling
Anxiety and Stress Reduction
The act of writing down thoughts gets them out of our head and onto paper where we can view them from a different perspective. In the process, we find ourselves releasing mounds of anxious thoughts. The simple act of writing is a stress-reliever.
Purging Toxic Thoughts
After recording the painful lessons in our lives, let them go. Move on. When you have food poisoning or the stomach flu, you expel the poisons. Likewise, toxic reminders of life’s bad experiences are purged onto paper, processed, set aside, or even shredded or burned.
Anger Reduction
Instead of lashing out at someone or getting angry, writing our thoughts can help us work through what we’re fighting internally.
Review Lessons Learned
You may choose to review parts of your journal. You may be surprised how far you’ve come. It serves as record of the lessons you’ve learned and the progress you’ve made. You may even crack a smile after reading your notes about a nice deed someone did for you.
Let the cleansing tides of the ocean
wash away any obstacles
in your path.
