I travelled to Quebec City from Toronto this past week to visit my 93-year-old father. I expected to have a nice afternoon visit, take care of some of his banking and return home that same evening.
My dad lives with his 89-year-old girlfriend, and it seems the care load has dramatically increased in the last two months. She didn’t tell me, and my dad didn’t tell me, so I was shocked to discover that he no longer leaves their condo. It’s on the second floor of an inaccessible building, so there is no elevator. He can no longer manage the stairs. And she can no longer manage the care, since he’s fallen a few times lately.
It quickly became apparent that I needed to move him back to Toronto that day. Yikes!
Besides the problem of getting him out of the building, he’d missed his checkup for his pacemaker and his legs were dangerously swollen.
I’ll admit I had a moment of overwhelm, paralyzed by the negatives. And seeing no immediate solution in sight, I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I knew I wasn’t alone, but it sure felt that way in those moments.
I took a moment to remember that there must be a solution, and we couldn’t be the first people to encounter this situation. And that calmed me enough that I could see a way through.
We called an ambulance who would be able to get him out of the condo and to the hospital. And it’s a good thing too. It turned out he had a couple of problems that needed urgent attention which he is now getting. He’ll stay in hospital for a few days, which gave my brothers and I the time to come up with a more permanent solution.
Over the next 48 hours I had many more moments where everything seemed so hard. It really helped me to keep reminding myself, there is always a solution.
Try this ONE thing
The next time you feel overwhelmed and unsure how to proceed, remember that there really is always a solution.
Want to experience coaching? I like to start with a deep, get-to-know-you conversation to see
if we are right for each other. Sometimes we talk for one or two hours at no charge. I have no goal except to bring about transformation. Together we work on the lies, the self-deception, the fears of the power you perceive to be outside ourself. We work on your difficulties in making decisions and your inability thus far to make bold choices in life and to follow through and trust yourself completely to do so.
The irony for some people is that the very thing that they want the coaching for (an indecisive, half-hearted life) is what’s keeping them from deciding whether to get coaching.
When you’re ready, reach out @ karen.laidlaw.theONEthing@outlook.com. Meanwhile, enjoy the blog!
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