Many caregivers have endured their journey in the middle while working a career and balancing care for a spouse, children, parents, extended family or even friends. The middle has become even tougher for caregivers as the world struggles to find a new normal and rebound from the effects of COVID. For some, isolation was not new to their way of life as a caregiver but for others the added challenges only created more grief. I know I wanted to stop struggling to survive and finally live a life I was intended to live.
Although experiencing grief from the loss of a loved one, relationship, or job is part of life, this kind of grief makes it hard to see how life can continue on the flip side of grief. Feeling like you are losing yourself along this caregiving journey while you care for everyone else is normal. And even though it is very normal there is a better way to step through our journey without losing ourselves. Stop letting stress, anxiety, depression, frustration, and even anger control your emotional stability and wreck your physical health.
Men and women deal with stress in different ways but overall grief touches us all. In 2015 the ratio of caregivers, women/men was 60/40% split. During 2020, pre-COVID this ratio shifted to include more men by a 51/49% split. Even though men and women deal with stress differently, grief effects our hearts in much of the same way through inflammation. The heartbreak of grief can increase blood pressure and the risk of blood clots. We are all having to learn how to be a caregiver to some degree while supporting our own form of selfcare which is why I wanted my next guest to help shed some light on what it looks like to live in the middle.
Pat Sheveland, a best-selling author and certified life coach, is living proof that a multigenerational approach in caring for your family can still give you the flexibility and freedom to do the things you want to do and live your life with greater peace and joy! Her newest book Living Life in the Middle: The Caregiver’s Guide to Healing, Hope and Harmony Through Multigenerational Living provides the steps and tools to help caregivers create a life that provides freedom and flexibility to pursue their dreams while still supporting their family.