"Our human relationships are a playground where we learn tolerance, compassion, and acceptance." Chris Michaels.
Tolerance, compassion and acceptance are qualities we can learn as dementia caregivers. We could also choose to learn bitterness, self pity and scorn. The choice is ours. One thing seems certain: the stress and sacrifice of providing caregiving for someone with dementia provide fertile ground for developing our own character. I have thought for years that adversity either makes us bitter or better. Let us choose to use this experience of dementia caregiving to transform us into new levels of tolerance, compassion and acceptance. Let us also consider this is our playground for such developing. It has seemed to me that the interactions, dynamics and choices of the childhood playground do play out over and over throughout our lives. Let us choose to become better persons from this experience. Personality qualities, like muscles, become stronger with use. Today let us exercise the muscles of tolerance, patience, playfulness, compassion, self- and other-acceptance.
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