I am making puff pastry today. I have never made it from scratch before and was convinced that I couldn’t. Why else would they sell it in the store unless it is too difficult for home cooks? I turned to my trusty friends at google and found a recipe. After getting flour all over my counters and floors and a good solid workout for my rolling pin and arms, the pastry is now in my fridge just waiting to be baked. It was not only possible; it actually was quite easy.

What on earth does this all have to do with my role as a CarePartner for my husband? I am often running into tasks that I never thought I would be asked to do. Whether it is something like nail care for him or cleaning gutters on the house, these are things that I knew were beyond my capabilities. I would put them off as long as I could until that wasn’t an option anymore. Surprisingly, when I finally get started, I find that most tasks are less difficult than I expected. When I finally decide to give it a try, I am able to get many things done that seemed impossible.

My capabilities are being challenged on a daily basis and I am learning that I am up to the challenges. When a new task comes along, I can choose to brood over it and worry about it which just makes it bigger, or I can go ahead and give it a try. More often than not I find that the task gets done and I can move on to the next one. Once in a while I will run into things that are beyond me. Then I reach out to someone for help knowing that I have given it my best. That’s something I would never have known if I hadn’t first gotten started.