Understanding Your Emotions Can Help With Caregiving

We each can play many roles in our lives. From son/daughter, worker, parent, role model spouse, and caregiver. Handling a plethora of roles at any given time can come with different sets of challenges and feelings.We all need a break from normal day-to-day plans occasionally and it is no different for caregivers.

Caregiving can generate many feelings and reactions. No one should feel guilty about their feelings positive, negative or indifferent.

What questions do you ask yourself in order to gain increased understanding of your needs? Asking yourself questions can help improve your own self-awareness which can lead to increasing your understanding of others as well.

Even philosophers like Aristotle once said,

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Should we showcase the importance further?

Research shows that spending 15 minutes reflecting on yourself or day can improve your performance by 23%. Self-reflection can demonstrate a more productive mindset and even help you to feel happier and improve your overall emotional wellbeing.

So what kind of questions can we ask ourselves?

• What is my goal today?
• How do I feel inspired?
• How much sleep do I need?
• What made me smile today?
• What kind of physical activity do I enjoy most?
• What was the last song stuck in my head and how did it make me feel?
• What makes me happy?
• What makes me sad or angry?
• How do I want others to view me?
• How do I define success?
• What did I enjoy today? 
• What did I not enjoy today?

So, when you're not faced with a list of questions like the ones above, one of the easiest ways to stay tuned to YOU is through journaling. Download a FREE journal here. 

And one of the biggest things we can do is know our “Why” as a caregiver. The only way to do that is through self-reflection. Why am I overwhelmed right now? Why am I happy? Acknowledge and separate your needs so you can better identify those of the person you are cargiving for.

And make sure you can re-balance your life and know as a caregiver YOU must also be taken care of mentally and physically.

Other research shows that there is a significant reduction of stress and increased feelings of competence when caregivers have included a self-care practice into their daily routine. Start your self-reflection practice today!

All in all, caregivers need ways of expressing their feelings. Good friends, counselors, help lines or support groups, Facebook groups, journals, whatever works. Bottling up your feelings won’t do you any good because they will spill out in unexpected ways. You must take care of yourself so that we can continue to create a caring society in which each of us lives a strong quality of life including dignity, purpose, and security.