Monday, August 10, 2015

LETTING GO




This summer I decided to purge my home of mystery boxes. Admit it, you have them too. Those boxes you packed and moved to your home years ago because you could not possibly live without the contents, however years later the boxes remain unopened.

Opening my mystery boxes has been a trip down memory lane but it also has reminded me how important letting go is in order to move on.

One of my favorite quotes on this subject is by Daphne Rose Kingma: 
 “Holding on is believing that there’s only a past, letting go is knowing that there is a future. “    

 Another of my favorite quotes on this subject is by Susan Fay West: “The mental and physical space we create by letting go of things that belong in our past gives us...the option to fill the space with something new.”


Letting go of not only old letters, newspaper clippings, and old pay stubs, but also our old self-identities, old grudges, and old hurts. 
  

More often than not, the letting-go process is one of the most difficult things we have to do in life. 

 Imagine being a resident of long-term-care facility with no one visiting with you and you had to let go of your home, some degree of your independence, your self-identity, and in many cases, your good health. You would have to handle all the letting-go issues by yourself. Facilities’ staff members do their best to help residents adjust, but sometimes there is not enough staff and not enough time to personally do this with each resident.

This is where Betty Brewer’s Angels volunteers step in to help. By their weekly visits with the same person, friendships develop.  These friendships give opportunities to discuss the past in order to sort things out, focus on the good memories and to remind the residents that as long as we are alive, we are given the gift of a future that we can choose to handle in a positive way, no matter the situation.    
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Have you ever thought about being a Betty Brewer’s Angel volunteer but because of other obligations do not think you would have the time for a weekly commitment?  The solution may be to become a “Fill-In” volunteer.  We need people who can fill in for Betty Brewer’s Angels volunteers, who due to personal circumstances, cannot for several weeks visit with the resident they have chosen.  The “Fill-In” volunteer would fill that void.  “Fill-In” volunteers receive the same training and support as full-time volunteers.

If interested in becoming a Betty Brewer’s Angels volunteer, either Full-Time or on an As Needed basis, please contact me either by email bettybrewersangels@wowway.com or call me 614-309-4677. I would love to answer your questions



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