It Happened Again-Life

It happened again-Life…

Back in mid-October a loved one’s serious health issue derailed my life. When serious health issues affect a loved one the last thing you think about is staying on track with your goals! It is all you can do to keep up with the things you need to do daily. Like, care for your family member, keep up with the demands of your job if possible, get sleep and eat.

One by one you start to drop things from your life as all of your focus goes to the situation of your loved one. The first thing you are likely to drop is caring for yourself. Next you likely back off of anything you can to free up time and energy for the demands at hand. I know I did.

You certainly don’t want to take on new opportunities now – you can’t – that would be disastrous. That’s when life happened again – and my goals got once again put on the back burner. Situations like this not only put goals on the back burner but they stifle growth and restrict new opportunities. And as is the case of many serious health issues, the length of time you are sucked away from your life can be weeks, months or even years.

None of that matters when you are worried about a loved one. All that matters is they get well and you would sacrifice all your time and goals to make that happen.

I have been studying and working for many years to help people get their lives back on track after such events. And it is comforting to know that someday we will get back to our lives and goals once again but for the immediate future, they don’t matter.

I am also aware that others who are going through similar situations need help now while they are in the midst of worry and chaos that serious health and life situations cause. And I need the same help now. I realize this will be the first time ever that I have realized and thought like this.  I am sure I would have benefited from coming to this realization much earlier in my life and it would have helped me deal with the many serious health and life situations that occurred in my very large family over the years.

Now I am willing to be open to keep my goals moving forward even in the throes of a long-term situation that prevents me from giving my full attention to my own life. I know it won’t be the same but just knowing no matter how little I move forward it is important that I keep the belief that I can and will continue to make progress in my own life regardless of what circumstances life throws at me, helps me to feel I am not giving up on my dreams once again.

In honoring my loved one’s needs I am committed to whatever time and effort I need to provide daily. But as the new year is underway and the time to review not only the past month but the past year is at hand and it is past time to create a new plan for the coming year that will help us achieve the goals we fell short on and those that are ongoing as well as add new goals to make our dream life our daily life. I feel the need to keep a daily focus and work on my goals.

Additionally, I have a new goal, one I have never thought of before and that is to stay on track with my goals and my life even as I deal with this life event. My first response to this new idea is a well of energetic hope that my life as I know it is not coming to a halt during this trying time. Like all serious situations, the outcome can be uncertain and our personal futures are certainly affected by whatever that brings. Having faith that everything will be ok is important. Hope is essential. But now I have this realization that keeping my wellbeing and plans and goals for life are possible and even therapeutic and beneficial not only now and during this crises but for the future too.

This kind of thinking about keeping moving forward on my own goals would have felt selfish years ago but now I look at things differently and I believe that everyone going through a stressful life or health situation of their own or a loved ones should know that it is not only ok to keep working on their own goals but it is to their benefit and everyone they care for especially their loved one who is at the center of the crisis, they all benefit.

When you keep your mind, body, and soul as strong, sound and hopeful as possible it not only will keep your life moving forward but it’s like putting your own oxygen mask on first in a plane emergency. You can better care for others when you take care of yourself.

Regardless of the outcome, you will be in better physical and mental shape when you have cared for yourself and kept your life goals alive during this challenging and difficult period. I hope 2018 is starting well for you but if it isn’t it might be even more important than ever to have some daily focus on you and your dreams.

Please share your thoughts and suggestion to help others with their daily focus despite life’s challenges.