Being compassionate to yourself doesn’t mean that you’re letting yourself get away with being a terrible person. What it means is that you’re not beating yourself up for real or imagined mistakes. You’re acknowledging that you’re human and that you’re doing the best that you can.

No One Knows Your Journey Better than You Do.

Caregiving is undeniably tough and each caregiving journey is a unique one. That said, no one knows better than you do exactly what your journey looks and feels like. As such, you are the perfect person to have the most compassion for yourself and your situation. You might think you’re not being tough enough on yourself, but you’re almost assuredly wrong.

Being Rough on Yourself Sets You up for Burnout.

When you make it a habit to be too tough on yourself, you’re more likely to be anxious and unhappy. This is because you can’t escape your own criticisms. You are the one constantly evaluating your actions and determining that they’re not enough. You therefore contribute to your own negative emotions and make it all worse. That sets you up to later develop caregiver burnout.

Think of Yourself as Your Best Friend.

How would you talk to someone that you care about? If you witnessed them doing something that they could do better or more efficiently, you might gently offer them advice. You might be extremely careful about how you phrase something, simply because you don’t want to offend, but you want to help. How you talk to yourself is possibly far less friendly and that needs to change. Talk to yourself as you would talk to a friend.

Get Help if This Is Difficult for You to Do.

Once you start to realize that self-compassion is something you need to work on, you might find it extremely difficult to make the switch. This isn’t unusual at all. Get some help from a therapist or counselor who can give you the tools you need. If you’re worried that you don’t have the time or can’t be away in order to work on this, hire elder care providers to fill in so that you can focus on shifting your mindset.

You may already be adept at being compassionate to other people. After all, you’re a caregiver. But you need to be able to extend those same allowances to yourself more often. It’s vital to you being able to continue being a caregiver.

If you or an aging loved one are considering elder care in Bellaire, TX, contact the caring staff at Personal Caregiving Services at 832-564-0338. Providing Care in Houston, Bellaire, West University Place, Katy, and Sugar Land and the surrounding areas.