Life as a CarePartner can be tough. There are times when it feels like I’m standing on the railroad tracks trying to talk a train into stopping before it barrels over me. I have learned that if I go ahead and finish what must be done, I can get out of the way before the crash so we can safely meet up at the station later. It is not always easy to do, but usually the best decision if I want to get through it and move forward.

Anger and frustration are strong emotions and can easily overwhelm me, especially with the additional stressor in my life of living with someone who has a chronic illness. The freight train in our lives can be the situation or it can actually be my state of mind when I am faced with tough times. If I take a moment to consider what is happening, I can usually find a way to derail those negative feelings.

We had a disagreement the other evening over whether we needed to water the lawn or not. I wanted to wait until morning but my husband wanted to get it done right then. I compromised and did what I could, even though I was already really tired. In other words, I saw the train coming so I did the work and got out of the way before it hit. Then, when we went to bed, I brought it up and we were able to have a conversation about what we thought next time needed to look like. It was a positive exchange at a safe time and place, and we were both able to let it go.