Being Still

There are those days when you have a million things planned and the schedule is going to be tight… and then the phone rings. Your caregiver can’t make it in today and suddenly you go from a screaming run to…. Stillness and slow motion.

I have to admit that coming out of the fast paced business world and having to learn how to be still is not as easy as it sounds. Your mind and your body are geared to a state of constant motion, always thinking through the current problem, prepping for the next appointment, coordinating with everyone involved in the process, pop, pop, pop!

And then you have to learn how to retrain your brain to notice the small changes in diet, or sleep patterns or behavioral shifts that could mean something… or nothing at all. You are the only one who can get her to eat, or bathe, or just get out of bed. You are the one she remembers and you are the one she looks for when she’s worried or confused or frustrated.

 You get out when you can, but chances are good that you’ll get at least one call to talk to her about doing something she’s pushing back against doing. The time away is limited and the time of sitting and watching is sometimes unending, so when you plan on a busy day and you get “That Call”… it’s always frustrating… at the very least.

Learning to be still means you find other ways to entertain your mind. It means you read, you meander through the internet, you watch TV while you keep a steady eye on the monitor that’s keeping an eye on her. When she’s awake and fed and sitting up in the room with you, then you can do things like clean the kitchen, vacuum the room or clean a bathroom. While she’s engaged in what she’s eating or watching on TV, you have a bit of move around time, but when she’s sleeping and could try to get out of bed unnoticed you don’t dare be too distracted or you will miss her move and she could fall.

So you learn to be still. When you get a chance to run, you run, but when that call comes in that tells you that your planned run is on hold… you smile, you sit down, and you go back to being still, because that’s what you need to be doing.  

You can always fill the still times by blogging about being still… it works for me!