When I get together with my fellow CarePartners, we often talk about how difficult it is to be positive when you are physically and emotionally spent. Yet I still find myself tackling chores even when I know that I am tired and need to rest. There is always a reason to ‘take care of just one more thing” even when my body is telling me it is done. This is especially true when I have been busy all day with outside tasks only to find that I have neglected something essential like making dinner.

Beyond understanding my limits, another challenge seems to be pacing my day. Earlier this week, we had completed all our normal tasks only to realize at dinnertime that I had forgotten to cut the lawns. Knowing it is normally only a 45-minute job, I chose to take care of it when I finished in the kitchen. By the time the lawns were cut and then watered, I was tired, achy and cranky, and the rest of the evening was not pleasant. When we went to bed, I was overtired and had a very difficult night which impacted my abilities the next day.

My husband likes to remind me that I am not superwoman and don’t need to do it all. I have decided that I am going to start tracking home chores on our calendar so that I can make sure not to overschedule. I am going to learn to listen to my body because the signals are there, I just need to pay attention to them when they tell me to stop. An exhausted CarePartner is worse than no CarePartner at all. I will do what I can to respect my personal limits so that I can provide a positive life for myself and the one I love.