Spiritual Self-Care for in-Home Family Caregivers

As a family caregiver, providing quality care for your senior loved one is a priority. In order to accomplish this, it is important to take care of yourself as well.  My hope is that as we’ve discussed the importance of implementing self-care into your life, that it too has become a priority. For the past several weeks, we’ve discussed the importance of self-care, the physical component, and the emotional component. I believe that good self-care benefits your personal health as well as the care your senior loved one receives. Today, we pick up on the topic of spiritual self-care.

Spiritual self-care, just like physical and emotional self-care, looks different for every person. In my life, spiritual self-care has been crucial to my peace of mind. I have found that the small moment where I am able to listen to a song, read a passage from the Bible, or listen to a speaker I respect have really encouraged me on my journey. For your own spiritual journey, it is important to find the things that encourage and lift up your soul and give you the ability to continue to push forward.

If you are unsure where you stand spiritually, here are some questions that can begin to help you navigate your personal views.

1. Do things happen for a reason?
2. What experiences have shaped my spiritual belief? What did my parents believe about spirituality?
3. What is the purpose of my life?

Here are some ideas to help foster spiritual self-care:

– Pray

– Have a quiet time

– Read a devotional

– Spend time in nature

– Listen to encouraging music

– Attend a church service

– Study and learn about God

– Ask questions

 

I want to end this post with the Serenity Prayer. It is a prayer that is famous among Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs. As a family caregiver you have so many unique struggles. You watch as your senior loved one struggles with chronic illness and the aging process. There are so many things you wish you could change; there are so many things you wish you could do differently. Yet, spiritual self-care for the family caregiver may be accepting the things you cannot change.

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

–Reinhold Niebuhr

 

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