Aug 3, 2012

Rules for Being Human

"There is no better than 'here'.  When your 'there' has become 'here', you will simply obtain another 'there' that will, again look better than 'here'.  Illuzone from ancient Sanskrit

A dear friend sent me the "Rules for Being Human", of which the above quote is one.  We are going through another period where Dwane is very dissatisfied being in assisted living, complaining he cannot live at home, wants to come home for a shower, has appeared to have forgotten our agreement to take the neuropsychologist's recommendation from the evaluation --- which was that he needed assisted living and plenty of supervision.  This is always difficult for me:  his dissatisfaction.  But, isn't it also a mindset?  Any one of us can be dissatisfied where ever we find ourselves.  If I were to focus on some negative aspects of where I live:  the isolation, mud, snow, ice, dust; I could choose to be dissatisfied.  I try to remember that we each choose our attitudes when he is dissatisfied about every little thing in his life.   As caregivers we can do a lot to make the lives of the care receiver better, but . . . . . . we cannot do everything.  Only that person has the power to choose his or her attitude.  And, it helps me to remember that he complained about many, many things when he was living at home too. 

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