The Silver Lining

Remember that *rush* you felt, when you were 16, and you'd just passed your driving test?  That license -- still warm from the laminator -- fresh in your hand, gave you a new-found freedom.  You could DRIVE! I remember the day I got my license in 1972.  The examining officer in our town had a reputation for NEVER giving a 16-year-old a license on their first try.  I was nervous when my mom took me to the little white cinder-block building that served as the Highway Patrol Office.  Sure enough, there was Officer P. -- sitting at a cluttered desk, typing rapidly with his index fingers only -- which I thought was absolutely absurd, and stifled a giggle!  He growled at us to sit down and wait, he was busy.  I wiped the snicker off my face and did as he ordered.  Rat-a-tat-tat went the manual typewriter -- pounding on my 16-year-old nerves.  Then another officer came in the building.  He looked at me and my mom, smiled, then said, "Hey, if you're here for a driving test,

The past several days I've found myself in conversations about "Self-Care" both from the perspective of one who has a chronic illness AND from the caregiver's point of view.  Either route is not easy. As one who is being cared for, sometimes I realize that I may be "needier" than I've ever been.  I've also been dealing with some fairly depressed feelings, which I am sure add to the "pity party" in my head.  I try to practice some self-care to shake out the cobwebs in my head:  prayer, find something to smile about in every day, get outside in the sunshine a bit each day, push myself to do things on my own -- when I succeed, I get a good feeling of accomplishment.  At times, I have to remind myself to be kind to ME.  If I don't complete a task, it is really no big deal, I can finish it another time -- I don't have to berate myself or call myself "lazy," I just need to adjust my expectations.  I also know when I need to