Help! My World is ON FIRE!!!
As a caregiver, your stress can be non-stop! You might feel alone. You might be constantly under fire. Your loved one might be demonstrating behavior that you don’t know how to deal with. There’s pressure from that family member who always knows what you SHOULD be doing (but doesn’t help at all). Stop this ride! It isn’t fair. It isn’t ok. You aren’t ok. Let’s quit pretending. The world is %$@*&ing imploding and you want to get off. Right now. Yeah, I get that.
If you’re on this page…
…then you probably need some happiness administered STAT! Before you do anything else, put a smile on your face watching these cats playing with a Rube Goldberg machine. Then keep scrolling down for more ideas on pulling things back into shape when they’re falling apart.
(ﾐ^ᆽ^ﾐ) Did you watch? ^^^
Those cats are cute, right? OK! Now, let’s talk about some relief for the for longer term. elumenEd has an online training built just for these moments of emotional crisis: Caregiver Down: Requesting Backup! It’s available for free in our Member’s Area and offers 14 effective crisis management strategies that are studied and taught by psychologists for pulling people back from the brink. The techniques are fast and powerful, and they’re also simple.
When we’re in crisis, we have to “hack” our bodies to trick them into coming out of that downward spiral. That’s what this course is all about. You’ll learn more about how our brains work, and how they try to use emotions to protect us, often to disastrous effect. Most importantly, you’ll learn how to bring those extreme, outsized feelings back into a reasonable space.
If you want to read about my favorite tactic from this training, I have a FREE guide that details my #1 technique in full, no strings attached. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me. It has honestly pulled me back to sanity in some extreme moments, and I hope it’s just as useful for you. This free guide is called “Extinguish the Emotional Dumpster Fire!” and is also available for free in the members section of the site.
Believe it or not, you are still allowed to have fun. There might not be a lot. You might have to sneak 5 minutes of joy in during the middle of the night or play that New York Times crossword puzzle while locked in the bathroom, but it can be done and we want to help.
Below is our curated list that we created through Amazon. These are things that make us happy and get us out of our heads when the world feels like it’s ending. (Pro-tip: even though it feels that way, it isn’t. You’ve got this.) Have 60 seconds of fun when you can. Treat yourself to something below if it suits you, or use this list as inspiration to find what works for you.
Here’s list, and it’s growing all the time. Check back periodically for more ideas:
*Full disclosure: these links are offered through the Amazon affiliate program, so we do get a commission if you buy through our links.
60 seconds for you…
Your comedy “mix tape”
Laughter is magical. We’ve put together a Youtube playlist of some different funny videos you might enjoy. They’re all pretty short, most under 4 minutes, so you can take a moment and laugh in the midst of it all. Take a moment to remember that there are still things in this world that elicit humor and fun. Who doesn’t need to see Yoda singing about seagulls, or some cute kittens being ridiculous?! We’ll be adding to the playlist regularly, and we hope you’ll send us some of your ideas to include as well!
*Note that we don’t control this comment. It may disappear if the poster (or Youtube) decides to pull it down.
Did these ideas brighten your day? Subscribe to our newsletter to get regular updates with more:
Crisis management strategies
Strategies for dealing with your loved one’s behaviors
Emotional support techniques that you can do for yourself
Education on the diseases you may be facing
Care approaches that can ease stress for all
Ways to smile even in the midst of the most difficult thing you have probably ever been through