 Happy New Year! We hope that your holidays were special. And just like that, we are jetting forward into the next new season of life. For some of us, this “new” season may feel and look a lot like the one we just came out of, especially if we are caring for a child with a chronic illness or medically complex condition. With all of the buzz about New Year’s Resolutions, let’s see if we can’t dig deep and find things that can actually motivate us in our situations to actually make good, healthy steps forward in 2022. If you google search for the top New Year resolutions this is what’s going to pop up: exercise and weight loss, money management, spend more time with (fill in the blank), pick up a new hobby, put down a bad habit, and why not throw in a new career? All of those seem like good things to try (although maybe the career change is a bit risky), perhaps that’s not what we really need? I’m not going to discourage those healthy lifestyle changes and we’ll even talk about how to incorporate some of those in, but I’d like to challenge those of us who are already facing a difficult road ahead to dig a little deeper and find out: What do I really need in this new year? Reflection Do you ever feel like all you do is run and respond to life? If you have a child that has constant medical needs on top of the normal hustle and bustle of life, it can be hard to stop and cut out some time to reflect. I’d like to encourage us to do this because it may feel like a waste of time when laundry needs to be folded, meals need prepped, and meds need refilled and the list goes on (at least that’s what our anxiety may like to tell us), but reflection can actually have great results in our ability to do those things better. Can you list out the tasks that are on repeat? Can you guess what some other tasks may be that come up from time to time? No one has a crystal ball, but we can guess that unexpected things will be coming our way, too. Reflection can give us the space to see what we really need to help us move forward. Research Once we have narrowed down what our needs are, step two is figuring out how to meet them! It all sounds so easy, but when we’re stuck in our running and responding state of life, this can actually be a little tough. So hang in there! Our question now is, what is out there can help me meet this need? With all of the apps, organizations, and family+friends out there, we really can find some good quality support and ideas to help us. If organizing or time management is difficult, try google sheets for lists or a number of other apps out there that can help us keep track of things! If it’s more in-depth like coordination of medical care, ask those on your medical team for tips and advice on how to best go about the things you need to do. Try Again A big thing to remember is that trying and missing the mark doesn’t mean you can’t hit it the next time or the time after that. I hope that when you are reflecting and researching, you see that you are not alone. We all have our own journeys to walk and even if we find ourselves in the same hospital setting with the same diagnosis, there will still be differences. And yet, while each step can be unique to us, there is a lot of common ground out there. So while we try to juggle life and in or take out what we need to in this new season, remember that you are not alone! If I can be a listening ear or offer some support while you reflect, research and try, please reach out to me at (307) 333-1273 or email me at katelin@oliviacaldwellfoundation.org. We’ll start this New Year off right in ways that make the most sense for us! Cheers 2022!
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