Take care of yourself even as you care deeply about others. Take care that you are in tiptop shape so that you may be available to those you love deeply but also available to monitor and guide yourself through trying times. It’s very important for those who can offer help to others to be mindful of their own shortcomings and their own tendencies to over-give, to overcompensate, and to become codependent, without regard to their own needs. A caregiver must also care about the self, and perhaps this is the most important aspect of caregiving, to be caring of and about the self in times of stress but also in times of rest. For to truly be a giver, one must also truly become a receiver, and that might just mean saying no.
All our love,
The Soul Sisters, Jan & Jeanne