“Sure Mom, I’ll help.” As soon as I spoke the words, my internal thought was, “I do not have time or energy for this! Why did I agree to help?”
Sometimes we just say yes automatically. We feel emotionally tied to a situation or we feel an enormous amount of guilt and before we even think what saying yes might involve, the word slips out of our mouths. Sometimes this ends up following us and becomes a standard we try to maintain or attain.
Setting boundaries and being a resilient family caregiver is about recognizing the importance of our own lives, family, and work. It is striving towards caregiving within those limits. It doesn’t mean we aren’t dedicated to caring. Quite the opposite. Setting boundaries allows caregivers to continue caring with compassion and devotion, instead of feeling lost or consumed by their caregiving role.
Allison Reeves, a registered clinical counsellor and facilitator of our upcoming webinar – Boundary Setting for Caregivers: Where You End and I Begin, September 28th – reminds caregivers:
- Good boundaries demonstrate you taking care of yourself. They show that you matter.
- Good boundaries also show how you think about others: are they worthy enough to respect?
Healthy boundaries let family caregivers maintain an emotional connection to the person they are caring for without the negative results of feeling they “need” to rescue, enable, fix, or control.
Boundaries allow people the freedom to be themselves. To love and care for someone while accepting personal responsibility for our own actions.
In respecting boundaries, we respect each other.
Want to learn more? Join us for our September 28th Webinar.