Last night I was on a family Zoom. We were trying a family book club for the first time. It was an epic fail. I’m not exactly sure why… likely many reasons. That part does not matter.

The point is, it did not go well. I wanted to blame others, then myself.  Next I found myself eating bowls of cereal. Yes bowl(s).  None of it served me.

As a caregiver, in the hard moments, what do you tend to do? Lash out? Attack yourself? Think about it. 

Often we make it worse by reacting in the moment. Instead of finding a solution, we look for a distraction: cereal, wine, Amazon, or gossip to name a few. 

Now we get to feel bad about what happened, AND our less than stellar reaction on top of it.

We can always make a hard moment harder or easier; we get to choose. Last night I could have made a wiser choice and had my own back.

Today I choose to practice being on my own side. When challenging moments arise, and they will, remember why you can take care of yourself, not why you can’t.

The times when you don’t think you can are the times you likely need it the most.

I’m in this with you, I see you.