Daily Supports
My blog with this week will focus on daily supports I need or have needed in my life. Everyone faces challenges throughout their life. We find and use our strengths to help us overcome these challenges. Many times we must seek additional support to help us. Throughout my life I have used and continue to use various supports to help myself be successful.
I want to first discuss some early supports that have benefited me when I was younger that still continue to support me today. First and foremost, my family is a great support. I find often that the last dialed number on my phone is my mom or dad. I am still calling them or visiting them often seeking advice about something. They are the kind of people who are able to ask the right questions to guide and support me when I need it most. I also want to talk about my speech therapy instruction I had while in elementary school. I find myself going back to strategies I learned during these sessions. I was very conscious of my speech and without this support my self-esteem would have plummeted. Many of the strategies I learned long ago, I still think about and use today.
Today, I continue to count on my family. My husband and children provide an awesome amount of love and support. They provide emotional support by listening to me, giving hugs, offering advice, and just being there when I need them. My phone provides me with great practical support. Without it I would be lost. I use my phone for communication, personally and professionally. I also keep my calendar and appointments in my phone. My phone provides a way for me to keep important contacts at my fingertips. My computer also provides practical support. I use my computer when I teach my classes, communicate with my students, and complete my own studies. My car provides me with a way to get to my job, take my family where they need to go, and fulfill needed responsibilities away from my home. My co-workers provide me with great physical support. We work as a team to complete necessary tasks, advise students, plan courses, and guide students through their first college experience. My co-workers also provide a leading ear and words of wisdom as I seek to improve myself professionally.
I feel everyone needs support in their life. These supports benefit me in many ways. They provide what I need to function to my fullest potential in life, helping me to be successful and accomplish my goals. I am an emotional person and without my caring family, I would struggle in other areas of my life. I love my career but without the knowledge co-workers, I would not be the successful professional I am today. Without practical supports that make my life easier, I would not be able to be organized and all areas of my life would suffer. I have a strong need to be organized and without supports to help me, I would have a lot more stress. Everyone faces challenges and daily supports are what helps us overcome the challenges we are experiencing.
I have not had to experience the challenge of aging parent yet but I know it is coming. My parents have been in good health. As I talk with friends who are having to support and care for their aging parents, I think about this challenge that lies ahead. I will need supports in my life to do the best job of taking care of my parents. First, I will need the help of my siblings. Even though they live away from where my parent and I live, I will seek their advice as I make decisions concerning my parent's health. I will also need to lean on my husband. He will be an emotional rock for me, lending a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, offering advice, etc. He knows what it is like to go through this so he will be a wonderful support. My parents are also very organized people. They have stated their wishes to us, updated wills, and set aside money for expenses. These supports will help me with the challenge of caring for my aging parents.
Supports are important and benefit people as they face challenges. I relate this to early childhood as I know how important it is to support children in their diverse developmental, cultural, linguistic, and educational needs.
Melissa
ReplyDeleteThis week you mentioned so many things that I did not think about; your computer, your car, and even your phone. I think that these are things that we all can take for granted, but if they were gone....life would become a little more difficult.
A few years ago my mother was very ill, and she was placed in hospice. I was named as her primary care, and found myself overwhelmed with so many responsibilities. I do not have any other family (except my own children) in the area at that time to help me, so a lot of responsibility fell into my hands. At the time I did not realize that there was a support group that I could go to. I really wish that I would have known about it, it would have helped me so much. There were also many services that were offered by hospice that I wish I had known about. It was a hard time in my life, but there is always support when you need it.
Cindy
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your personal connection to my challenge. My parents are doing well now but I know this is something I will facing. Thanks for mentioning the support groups. That is something definitely worth checking into.
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteGreat post and thank you for sharing. I agree with Cindy in that we do take the little things that we count on everyday for granted and do realize it untill it's gone or broken. I think caring for aging parents is a great example of a challenge. It will be a challenge emotionally physically and even financially for some. This is something I think we should all plan for and mentally prepare for as our parents get older. Even though we may not have to care for them in our homes we will still need the support to handle the changes our parents will go through.